Genesis 37 to 39 James says to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. Joy is a product of our walk and should be a 24/7 expectation of good even when it comes at us quickly or without warning. Let’s see how this is revealed in the life of Joseph.

He was sent to check on his brothers and had no inkling of their mindset. How could he have missed that when he shared his dreams and heard their mocking? It must have not given him any cause for worry because when Jacob sent him to do this task he said, I am ready! How like us!

It seems that sometimes we say or do things and walk about as if we have horse blinders on! We fail to perceive the reactions of others and Joseph did as well.

So imagine his shock when they took him and put him into a cistern thinking “out of sight, out of mind.” Later the brothers would recall: “we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy.” And yet his cries fell on deaf ears. Unbeknownst to them, God’s plan was just beginning as Joseph would recount later to them.

Sold as a slave into Egypt we find Joseph facing the temptation of the wicked wife of Potiphar and being moved from Potiphar’s house to prison with shackles. Yet, by doing so, God removed the temptation and her ongoing pressure. Instead of asking why is this happening to me, Joseph began to see how God was protecting him. Instead of grumbling and complaining, he counted it all joy.

When we don’t understand do we do ask God to give us wisdom? 

Do we ask God to show us what He is doing so we can count it all joy?