Everything is part of God's plan

Sometimes when I feel very depressed and belittled... Especially when I reflect back on things that have happened to me.. the bad things.. I tend to swing from absolute elation (my predominant state) to terrible depression.. But to prevent me from becoming bipolar... It is actually a mental disorder... I have come up with an excellent solution - think of the story of Joseph...

I am sure Joseph must have felt terribly depressed and belittled when he was sold as a slave by his brothers to the Egyptians.. I am sure he must have wondered to himself, "what's the matter with me? Why did my brothers treat me so badly?" This is a process known as self-attribution.. taking all the responsbility on himself... Of course he might swing to the other extreme and attribute the entire blame to his brothers saying that they are complete assholes betraying and abusing an innocent man (him)... but that would not be ideal as well.. at least it would not facilitate the mending of his relationship with his brothers... years to come...

Thing is.. instead of attributing the events that occur to yourself and the other party.. the best solution yet is to attribute all to God's divine plan.. It's nobody's fault.. what happened, happened exactly it was intended to and could not have happened in any other way (taken from Matrix reloaded).

Truth is.. if Joseph's brothers did not abuse and betray him... and Portiphah's wife did not accuse Joseph of sexually harassing her... he would never have landed himself in prison which eventually landed him a job as the PM of Egypt... This entire turn of events were not shaped by men.. but by God.. to empower Joseph to save the people from the famine that is to come.. To allow Joseph to save his own family when help is required..

And the thing is.. God had it all planned out from the beginning.. when he sent dreams to young Joseph about his brothers and even parents bowing down to him... all was planned... and the intrinsic value of Joseph never depreciated at all through out all the abuse and betrayal Joseph went through... the only reason why Joseph could have tolerated all that and perservered on.. was simply because Joseph knew and believed with all his heart that God had a plan... a good plan to glorify and empower him to do great good.. and even if this plan had to bring him to places he didn't want to go... to subject him to abuse he didn't want to endure... he was humble enough to just LET GO and LET GOD take control...

He never resorted to unscrupulous means such as sleeping with his boss's wife just to keep his job in the estate.. Instead, he kept himself pure and faithful throughout it all... and thank goodness he did so.. because the prison was a necessary stop before the very final post as the PM of Egypt..

So as it is... it appears that God's plan is simply unfathomable.. It is folly to try to intervene.. and compare our self effort and politicking to the mastery of God's plan... Instead.. just lay back and let God lead you...

My solution to bipolarity is thus.. to think of Joseph.. He's been through more shit than I have.. and everytime he was betrayed.. (which was many).. he could have chosen to just succumb to what the world say he is (A Braggard of a brother... a Molester... An unfaithful servant.. ) .. he could have felt miserable and chosen to end his life... to drown in his sorrows.. but yet.. time and time again.. he held on to his true identity (what God said he was... A beloved son of God)... and thus... he kept in line with God's plan for him.. to prosper him...

So whenever I am tempted to sink to a new low and imagine that I am an unworthy.. disgusting scumbag.. unworthy of love.. unworthy of respect.. unworthy of dignity and human rights... I just have to fix my eyes on Joseph.. and God.. I got to realise that Joseph had it worse.. but he never gave up.. He always held on to his good opinion of God.. he fervently and completely believed that God had a plan to prosper and glorify him.. and he never gave up on life...

With that said, always have a positive opininon of God.. He will never ever make you go through shit just to discipline you... or to display his might and make you succumb to him... there is always a good reason for it... Our God is not a mean mighty fellow who desires praise and worship just to fill his ego.... He's a good God who wants praise and worship to come out of a truly grateful heart... Similarly... he is kind and merticulous in planning your life.. so trust me.. he will not make you go through some unnecessary pain... everything that is happening to you now... is all part of God's plan.. however small you think that event or person is.. there is a purpose for him/her in your life... and nothing is unnecessary =)