Genesis Chapter 47

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you,
6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.

Joseph's brothers try to kill him, then sell him into slavery. Joseph goes to work for Potiphar, is falsely accused by his wife, and ends up in prison. He is ignored and forgotten by the chief cup-bearer, who's dream Joseph interprets, and it takes many years before he becomes Pharaoh's right hand man. Yet all this time, God is with Joseph, because what the brothers intended for harm, God used for good, to save an entire nation from death.

Sometimes, life is hard, bad things happen no matter who we are or what we believe in. Yet God is there with each one of us, and ass it says in Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

Joseph became the man he was because of the things that he went through. He started off as a proud, boastful boy, and ended up a strong devout man, giving God the thanks and praise for all that had happened to Him, and acknowledging that God had been with him at every point in his life, when he was down the pit before being sold into slavery, when he was taken as a slave to Potiphar's house, when he was given charge of everything by Potiphar, when he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, when he was thrown into prison and then forgotten about , when he was given authority by the gaoler, when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream and became one of the most powerful men in the country. At no time was God absent in his life, and I reckon that the bottle with Joseph's tears in it must be full as he went through some difficult times.

But God is with each one of us too, holding us when we cry, when things get tough, when times are hard, and He is also with us when times are good, when we are happy. He rejoices and cries with us. He feels our pain, knows our hurts and experiences our joy. It is just that our tears and hurts blind us to His presence, and our joy takes our thoughts away from Him.

We need to focus on God through the good as well as the bad. To turn to Him when times are hard and to rejoice with Him when times are good. Because only with God in our lives can we make sense of all that happens to us, and get the right perspective on life.