Trusting God's Plan

I've been enjoying rereading the story of Joseph in Genesis for the past few days.  He was a remarkable man.  The only fault (if you can call it that) we read about is when he told his brothers about his dreams.  When he forgave his brothers, he truly forgave.  I think he also forgave Potiphar's wife.  He certainly could have gotten revenge, but he chose not to.

There is a long dry spell that Joseph lives through before his dreams come to pass, but we never see him complaining or losing his trust in God.  Two quotes from Saturday's devotional stuck with me:

"God was preparing Joseph for something great. It probably did not feel like that at the time. By feeding fellow prisoners in a jail, God prepared Joseph to feed the nations from a palace."

"Great faith is a product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials. We see this exemplified in the life of Joseph."

Multiple times, Joseph tells his brothers that it was God working through the hard times:

Genesis 45:5,7-8 "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 
And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."
Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Five years ago this week Les started working for his current employer.  We moved, temporarily, to Oahu.  We were going to live here part time for six months before resuming our regularly scheduled life in California.  If you've been reading this blog for the past five years you know our "temporary" time on Oahu continues.  I wrote about the Will of God a few days after we arrived on Oahu five years ago.  I concluded that post with this:

We know that God doesn't change, but His plans for us are more than we can know all at once.  We can trust that He knows where we need to be, who we need to meet, how long we need to stay, and when it's time for a change.  Follow His path, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6.  While you're praying and seeking counsel, while you're waiting in the hallway, and while you're sitting still, remember this:

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18