Growth through pressure

God has made me grow in the land of my misery.
Genesis 41:52

This is said by a man, Joseph, who has experienced almost everything imaginable in terms of hardship: The break-up of his family, sale to human traffickers, slavery (certainly including abuse), slander and imprisonment.

And then this summary at the end:

God has made me grow in the land of my misery.

His story had a happy ending. But this would probably not have been possible without the „unhappy in-between“. The external challenges and, above all, the internal ones had strengthened him. He passed the test of standing by his values in all of this, persevering and keeping a soft, hopeful heart

No, building a ship is not as hard as what Joseph experienced. Even if the months of rust removal do make you think of slave labour. Here too, the biggest challenges were internal: Keeping hope, when it takes a lot longer and even longer to get to the end. even longer than I had planned and expected, than I had planned and expected. If the ship sinks at the shipyard in high water, if the finances and helpers are missing or people who have promised to help don't turn up.

Not becoming hard, hopeless or bitter was and is a challenge.

People who know me well say that I have become stronger over the years. That nothing knocks me down so easily anymore. That I can deal with people's weaknesses and unreliability a little more easily. That I am a little more relaxed when things don't go as I hope. That I have grown in my dogged determination to take one step at a time.

My life in recent years has not been as hard as Joseph's. But his summary also fits for me.

God has made me grow in the land of my misery.

Thank you!