Being in the Wrong Place at the Right Time

Yesterday, former basketball player Lorenzo Charles passed away tragically in a bus accident.  For those of you who do not know Lorenzo Charles, he played basketball for N.C. State.  He was on the 1983 national championship team.  In fact, if it were not for Charles, State would not have won the game.  You may not know who he was, but you may have seen the highlight.  With seconds to go, Derreck  Whittenburg threw up a hail mary, which fell short of the basket,  but it did land in Lorenzo Charles' hands who dunked the ball and the "Cardiac Pack" won the tournament. 

It is interesting that as I read the story of his death, team mates and friends said that Lorenzo Charles never let that moment go to his head.  He remained humble about his place in basketball lore.  In fact, he said that he was in the wrong place.  He was directly under the rim, which was the worse place to be to get a rebound.  But the worse place turned out to be the best place.  He was at the wrong place at the right time.  As a result, history was made.

In the Bible, Joseph was at the wrong place at the right time.  If you read his story (Genesis 37-50) you will find that because of his own boastfulness and his brothers jealousy, Joseph was sold into slavery. He later ended up in prison for something he did not do.  Joseph was at the wrong place, but God had him there at the right time.   Because he was in prison, through a series of circumstances, he came to the attention of the Pharaoh as an interpreter of dreams.  As an advisor to the Pharaoh, Joseph ended up saving Egypt and his own family from a famine.  Joseph would go on to say that what was meant for evil in his life, God meant it for good.

Too often, when we feel like we are in the "wrong place" we complain and the only focus of our life is to go someplace else.  We want God to deliver us from the "wrong place."  When we do that, we forget that God is sovereign, he may have put us in that wrong place for a right time.  It may be in that "wrong place" that God changes and matures our own faith.  It may be in that "wrong place" that God uses us as a witness for Christ.  Who knows but God may have put you just like Joseph in that "wrong place" for the right time.  Instead of complaining, trust.  Think about it.