God wants us to live confidently with the assurance that He is in control in all that happens. From beginning to end, Scripture teaches that nothing happens in our lives unless it is first filtered through our loving Father's omnipotent hands. Because of His sovereignty, God redeemed the multiplicity of challenging traumas through which Joseph, the son of Jacob, passed, and He used them, not just for Joseph's ultimate good, but for the ultimate good of many others as well. God is not refining us so we alone might benefit from the results, but so that our lives might contribute significantly to those around us. As we learn to view life through the lens of God's absolute control, we also learn to flex with any circumstance.
Thanksgiving is the most troubling holiday on our calendar intellectually.
After all, it's been a good year for most of us, but not for all of us. It reminds me of an old story about how the sturdy Spanish saint, Teresa, riding her mule across scorched Castile, came to a stream in flood. She began to ford it, was swept off her mule into the icy water, and finally staggered, drenched, to the far bank. The closer you live to God the more you appreciate the accuracy of that little story. He is steadfast and His will is forever directed to His children's good.