When Joseph’s older brothers sold him into slavery a series of events was initiated by which God, over the course of 13 years, caused Joseph to become the second highest ruler in Egypt. Nine years later, after Joseph’s brothers had come to Egypt seeking grain during an intense famine, Joseph revealed himself to them. That revealing and the events that followed it allowed the entire family to be reconciled in Egypt. The climax of the story came when Joseph said of his brothers selling him into slavery:

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20, N.K.J.V.)

This quote from Joseph is the Old Testament version of Romans 8:28, which says to Christians:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (N.K.J.V.)

It is fair to say that Joseph was a victim because, unquestionably, he was victimized by the actions of his brothers. However, it is also fair to say that he didn’t remain a victim. Unlike so many people who have wrongs done to them, Joseph didn’t allow himself to bathe in self-pity and self-centeredness. Rather than fade into bitterness and isolation, he made the best of his new life in Egypt.

How was Joseph able to do this? The answer is simple: his faith in God. Joseph knew that God was big enough to take the evil that had been done to him and actually use it as building blocks to accomplish His good purposes in Joseph’s life.

As is the case with so many scriptural truths, the greatest example of this one can be found in the life of Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders and the Romans were in sin when they worked in unison to get Jesus crucified. That’s why Jesus’ first words as He hung on the cross were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Nevertheless, even as Jesus was uttering those words, He already knew that God the Father was going to use His death on that cross as the means by which the sins of the entire human race could potentially be forgiven (1 John 2:1-2).

You see, God the Father, in His perfect omniscience and foreknowledge, saw the sinful actions of those Jews and Romans far in advance. How far in advance did He see them? According to Revelation 13:8, He saw them before the foundation of the world! And it was that unfathomable foreknowledge that allowed Him to devise a plan whereby He would use all that evil to accomplish His good purpose of providing a path of salvation for sinners. As Peter says in Acts 2:23, Jesus was “delivered (to the cross) by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.” 

So, was Joseph a victim? Yes, he was but only temporarily. In the end, God used the evil done to Joseph to transform him from victim to victor. Likewise, was Jesus a victim? Yes, he was but only temporarily. In the end, God the Father used the evil done to Jesus to transform Him from victim to victor. And are you a victim if someone has sinfully wronged you? Yes, you are. The key, though, is to see yourself as a temporary victim rather than a permanent one and claim God’s promise that He will use the evil done to you to transform you from victim to victor.