5 Career Lessons from Joseph

We may not think of Joseph at first as a story that has anything to do with career counseling, but embedded here are important lessons for all of us.

First, Joseph had little choice with regard to what he would do (unlike many of us), but he could choose how he would do it. And he chose to work diligently. Today, at work and at home, attitude, conviction, and responsibility are all still crucial. Whatever we do, as Christians we are to “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Working with excellence and integrity and making the right choice, despite the consequences, is a valuable lesson of Joseph.

Second, in his youth Joseph literally had God-given dreams of what his future would hold. Yet God would shape and mold him before those dreams were fulfilled. Likewise, we may have great ideas and healthy goals, but God’s timing may be different, and preparation may be necessary. Joseph couldn’t see the full picture, but in slavery and in prison—in obscurity, like Someone else we all know—God was preparing him for the demands and responsibilities of public life as the second highest authority in the land. Nothing was a waste.

Third, while Joseph probably enjoyed his position, he realized that his calling was ultimately to help and serve others, namely his family, including those who had hurt him. He saw that what they had intended for evil God had used to save many lives (Gen. 45:5, 7). Our calling today should similarly be aimed at meeting needs and serving others (1 Pet. 4:10).

Fourth, Joseph recognized the preparatory value of the sorrow, suffering, harassment, and victimization he had endured. Joseph was rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, put in prison as a result, and forgotten. Yet Joseph saw the purpose of God. Likewise, suffering and injustice, while things we would never choose, may play a unique and unexpected role in our calling under the sovereignty of God.

A final takeaway of the Joseph story would be that sometimes God’s will involves diverging from family norms or expectations. Where Joseph ended up was drastically different from the path of his brothers. They, like his father, were shepherds (Gen. 46:32), quite unlike Joseph, steeped in Egyptian culture and operating in a political, administrative role at the national level. Both, however, were within God’s plan for their lives.

A quick note here. I say this with the caveat that God can and does use authorities, specifically parents, to counsel and direct. Joseph’s situation was very different from ours, and he had no choice. I have often prayed that God would work through the counsel of my parents, and He often has.

When I say diverging from family expectations, that doesn’t mean doing so in rebellion against everyone else, including those God could be using to steer us away from something we’ll regret later. What I mean is that a person’s career choice or interests may not always reflect family traditions, but that doesn’t mean it’s outside of God’s will. He may just have another plan.

Like Israel, who was chosen by God, Joseph struggled in slavery in Egypt yet overcame to bring blessing to the nations, and neither his brothers nor Potiphar’s wife could interfere with God’s greater purpose. God used preparation no one would have chosen to bring about good for Joseph, his family, and the world. The gift that had also met with such conflict, jealousy, strife, and cruelty years earlier—the interpreting of dreams—resulted in unity, forgiveness, hope, and life for many.

Despite the rejection and hatred of his brothers, the oppression and slavery in a pagan land, and the injustice he experienced, Joseph rose to the height of power, not because he sought greatness, but because he humbly submitted to the will of God, was tested, and was exalted (Deut. 8:2, Matt. 23:12). Also like Someone else we know.

The Joseph narrative can be applied today in recognizing the value of responsibility, integrity, and diligence and using our individual gifts and position to serve others, even those who have hurt us. It’s a testament to how God in His sovereignty can use tragedy, injustice, and suffering to bring about salvation and direct His people through their faithful, humble obedience.

We should also work knowing that this land is not our home. Even as Joseph was dying, he trusted that God would “come to their aid” and take Israel back to the land He swore to Abraham (Gen. 50:24-25). Hebrews 11:22 identifies this as an act of faith (“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about bones”). Though physically in Egypt, Joseph’s heart was in Canaan.

May the same be said of us. Like Joseph, we can and should work diligently, with all our hearts, “as working for the Lord” (Col. 3:23). Our hearts, however, are set on “the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10).