One day, I was reading through a morning devotional that my friend sends to me everyday. This particular installment was about trusting God's wisdom. Before some of you who don't align with my beliefs walk away, stay for a while and read on. I can assure you that my words won't impose any clandestine guilt trips whatsoever. This is free reading for everyone.

One of my favorite Biblical characters is Joseph. For those who don't know, he was thrown into a pit by his brothers because they were jealous of his father's blatant favoritism toward him. Joseph was the first child born to their father Jacob's second wife, Rachel.

This may seem trivial to some, but when you examine the context of the time in which these kids were growing up, birthrights were extremely important. Sure you could work, but families, wills and testaments were huge back then.

Reuben, being the eldest, felt confident growing up that all that his father owned would be his when he passed on. Joseph's birth changed all that... I can see this turning into a long story so I suggest you check out the story of Joseph yourself. VERY dramatic and a great read.

So, back to the lil' devotional thingy. The writer made a valid point, one that I never thought of.

Ishmaelite traders just HAPPENED to be crossing the desert that was a stone's throw away from where Jacob's sons were camping and plotting how to kill an be rid of Joseph forever.

The brothers thought they hit the jackpot. They viewed this as a golden opportunity to be rid of Joseph WITHOUT shedding any of the snot-nosed, arrogant prick's blood. Cowards? Or aiding and unknowingly abetting an all-knowing, all powerful God? hmmm… Stay with me...

Joseph was sold as an Egyptian slave for 20 pieces of silver. Not sure how much that's equivalent to today, but that's still a rotten thing to do to a half brother, right? Well, let’s look at the rest of the facts...

Once enslaved, Joseph somehow accepted his ill-fated lot and probably held on to a sliver of hope that he would someday be free. Most likely a teenager, his childlike hope in God and good things to come were still untainted. After 13 years in this holding pattern, my boy Joseph ends up SOMEHOW (hint, hint) becoming the second in command to the Pharaoh himself! This was an honor bestowed only upon Egyptians of noble blood and Joseph was the son of a Hebrew shepherd.

I took this as a life lesson. I have faced the ups, the downs, the highs and the ultimate lows as bravely as I could. I understand now that God is overseeing every aspect of my life, not in the controlling sense as many would say, but in the sense of guiding my steps.

I can still remember sitting down with a potential employer and hearing him say "You got the job!" only to rescind on those lovely set of words I had heard just hours before. I was very angry about this; wrote a blog and recorded two videos about it.

Point is, there would be no Joseph story if those Ishmaelite traders hadn't been traveling in the direction they were headed in. In my own life, I still have yet to see the reason why that job wasn't mine. But, things have improved dramatically in EVERY other area of my life and it causes me to wonder. Was that and other disappointments the good problems in my life or the bad?

Take some time out to be thankful and grateful for what you DO have which is life, family for some of us, and the time to make attempts and strides to be better people. Some problems are bad, but if you can find the good in it, you're already a great deal closer to becoming the leader of your personal legend.