burning huts

i've been thinking about this a lot lately.  how life never really is how we imagine it will be.  it's never how we plan it out to be.   it especially hit me yesterday in sunday school.  we were talking about joseph and the coat of many colors. on the stink-o-meter his life just got progressively worse... let me explain.  

he starts out being the favorite child, and being adored by everyone in israel.  his brothers despised him for that, especially after the dreams joseph had about him eventually ruling over his brothers.  so his brothers hate him.  bad, right?  well then his brothers decide they want to kill him.  that's never fun... but instead of killing him, the bros decide to sell him as a slave!  okay.  his life is like a 6 on the stink-o-meter at this point(10 being the worst).  and then the whole thing with potipher's wife, and then he's put in prison for something he didn't do.  oh man.  yeah. i would say that would be really crappy. despite all the crap happening, he keeps doing what's right even though he doesn't know why he's having all these trials(ever heard the saying why do bad things happen to good people? yeah).  

but.

because he was eventually thrown into prison, he meets the baker and the butler. remember them?  he interprets their dreams, and eventually the butler tells pharoh about joseph when the pharoh starts having crazy dreams.  joseph interprets pharoh's dream and basically saves not only egypt but all of the countries surrounding egypt. naturally, joseph is made second in command of egypt and eventually saves his family from starvation.  amazing, amazing blessings.  none of which could have happened had the bad stuff not happened first, along with his faithfulness and diligence.

i'm sure you've also heard the story of the man who was shipwrecked. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stung with grief and anger.

"God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied. 

...

i also just finished watching the diane sawyer special on gabby giffords and her amazing recovery story thus far.  (seriously, i cried... i cry a lot lately.)

at the very end of the program, diane says this:

{you need to have} courage ... when the life you live isn't the life you planned.  and you learn there have to be many definitions of a beautiful day. 

i need to remember this the next time i'm having a bad day. i need to remember to be happy now, and that my Heavenly Father is in control and knows what's best for me. and for you.  And sometimes what i think is the burning hut is actually an answer to my prayers.