One of the frequent sayings in offices is “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know”… such a statement is often used to justify the fairly common situation: a highly talented individual often doesn’t move up and less talented ones do.  This statement is half right (or half wrong).  According to the Bible it’s not merely what you know, but it is also dependent upon the situation God puts one in.

Consider Joseph.  He became the number two man in Egypt.  Yes, God gave him the ability to interpret dreams, but he also was in the right place at the right time.  It was God who created the situation that allowed Joseph to rise to such a position.  Yet Joseph also had to use his ability; consider what would have happened if when the butcher and the baker were sad, Joseph, instead of trying to help them, had launched into his own pity party. He used the ability God gave him when there was no apparent benefit to himself.  Because he did so, his ability was remembered much later, and he was brought before Pharaoh.

The lesson from this is to always try to help others, whether or not there is an advantage to us; we should leave the circumstances to God and have faith in Him that all is for the best.