A gigantic lesson can be learned in analyzing some of the story line from this week’s parsha. A problem with people is that we always seem to think we know exactly what is going on. And if we don’t know what’s going on, we assume that something is totally messed up. However, what we fail to recognize is that Hashem controls everything and all that occurs is His will.
Yosef was bitterly hated by his brothers. They threw him into a pit to die. They moved aside and sat down to eat within a distance that they could hear his screams. Coincidentally (if such a concept exists), a band of merchants rode by and the brothers decided to have mercy and sell Yosef to a band of merchants who sold him to another band of merchants who rode him down to Egypt where he was sold into slavery. He was then appointed as chief over a very important officer’s house, things were good, he even started curling his hair. But then as circumstances would have it, he was wrongly convicted and thrown into jail. Up until here we might wonder, what Yosef did to deserve all of this (seemingly) horrible stuff. Something must be screwed up!
But then, as he is in jail, he meets the butler and the baker. He interpreted some dreams and eventually popped right up to become second in command. He dealt with extremely important issues. He resulted in being able to sustain all of B’nei Yisroel during the times of famine. What an interesting turn of events!
Life is a 150,000 piece puzzle, the box has just been opened and the pieces are dumped all over the table. How are we ever going to be able to piece the whole thing together to make it into a complete, comprehensive, clear picture? The answer is, we can’t, but it is Hashem who designed this puzzle, and it is Hashem who will eventually piece it all back together into a clear picture. We simply have to realize that the inner workings are hidden from us (which is why they are called “inner workings”). When things seem screwed up, we just need to keep these two phrases in mind: “Gam Zu L’tova” (this also is for the good) and “Hakol B’yidei Shamayim” (everything is in the hands of Heaven). May we merit that the confusing mess of puzzle pieces that is this world be put together as a whole, speedily and in our days.