God causes pain to unbelievers so that believers might be victorius - Gen. 40-43

Sometimes it is not all about you ... but, then sometimes it is. God is very much at work in the lives of those who trust in Him. That "work" can very much include unbelievers. In 40:1-4 we have a great example of how God, in His sovereign grace, does work in Joseph's life by changing the course for two unbelievers. The first sovereign act God performs to assist Joesph is to cause the cupbearer and the baker for Pharoah to offend the King. We are not told what it was but apparently it was enough to get the Pharoah's attention. The second act of God's sovereign action is when God uses Pharoah's anger. It reads that Pharoah was "furious" with the two of them. God sometimes uses sin to accomplish His purposes. That fury causes Pharoah to put the two in prison and, again, God's sovereign work puts the two in the exact same prison of Joseph. He then puts them under Joseph's care and causes them to have a dream that only Joseph can interpret. In each of these steps God is causing something to happen in the lives of unbelievers for the purpose of helping Joseph in his circumstances. The unbelieving world is appreciative that God sends the rain on the "just and the unjust." But, they also have to realize that God also uses the unbelieving world to accomplish His ends when dealing with believers. We should rejoice and marvel of what God is doing in our lives at the expense of the unbeliever around us. God is working in their midst for the purpose of working in ours. Rejoice that God is dealing with you ... but don't be surprised that He might do so using your unbelieving neighbor.