Genesis 39-41:1-16; Matthew 12:46-50, 13:1-23; Psalms 17:1-15; Proverbs 3:33-35

Day two of the story of Joseph. When Jospeh is brought to Egypt as a slave, losing his family, heritage, and culture, he is sold into the house of Potiphar, one of Pharoah’s officials. Genesis 39:2 (NIV) says “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.” Soon Potipher’s wife notices Jospeh, and when he refused to desecrate her marriage vows, she frames him and says he tried to take advantage of her. Joseph is sent to prison, but the Lord is still with him. Genesis 39:20-21 says “But while Jospeh was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” Again, Joseph is given responsibility, because the Lord was with him and “gave him success in whatever he did” (39:23).

After some time, Joseph is given the meaning of two of Pharoah’s chief servants dreams, both correct, and he asks the chief cupbearer to remember him when he is released. At the time, he does not, but two years later when Pharoah has two related dreams that he needs interpreting, the cupbearer remembers him, and tells Pharoah. Joseph is called on to interpret the dreams, and says “I cannot do it…but God will give Pharoah the answer he desires” (Genesis 40:16).

I think this is actually my favorite section of the story of Joseph. Now remember, Jospeh is sold into servitude, supposedly for the rest of his life after telling his brothers that he had a dream where he would rule over them. But the Lord was in this sequence of events, and so despite the dire outlook of servitude, the Lord blessed Joseph and everything he did. He is then falsely accused and sent to jail, a fate worse than servitude. There was no release date, no one was going to follow up on him for a trial, he was simply placed there and left for dead. Even there, the Lord was with him, and blessed everything he did; even there he was given responsibility. When the people around Joseph tried to humble him, the Lord continued to show how he was chosen and blessed.

For years Joseph was in that jail. For two years after he told the cupbearer to remember him, he stayed in that jail. And then the appointed time came: the Lord gave Pharoah a dream, and no one could interpret it. But the cupbearer remembered and Joseph was brought out of the jail. We know what’s going to happen–the Lord has blessed Joseph in every single endeavor, and He will not leave Joseph now.

Which makes me wonder, despite your outward circumstances, are you seeing good fruit? Now, if you are reading this, you probably aren’t falsely imprisoned, but you may be in another type of metaphorical prison in your own life. Maybe it’s the prison of a choice you didn’t make, or a path you found yourself on that you didn’t foresee. Maybe you know you are called by God to be something or do something, but the people around you are trying to humble you, letting you know why you won’t make it.

What is the actual fruit in your life? Do you see the good despite your outward circumstances? Is the Lord giving you responsibility? Is the Lord blessing your efforts–just not in the way you thought you would see? When you continue to get kicked down by the world, what do you see happening in the spiritual around you?

Joseph’s outward circumstances continued to get worse, and let’s be honest, who knows what his true mental state was at the realization of that. There was no way out of jail that he would have been able to see. His one and only lifeline left and forgot about him for over two years. And yet, the Lord blessed him, so he must have stayed faithful in thought, word, and deed.

I want to encourage you to look beyond the physical circumstances of the world around you and to instead look to the Lord for His guidance and direction. Do you see His presence and blessing exactly where you are despite the circumstances? Or are you finding Him missing? If you find Him missing, I’d encourage you to repent and seek Him first and foremost. He might not change the circumstances around you, but you will start to see the good fruit based off of a deep and loving relationship with him.

And if you are seeing that fruit, are you discouraged because you don’t see a way out or onward? I promise you, Joseph didn’t have any idea that his way out would be Pharoah. Do you have the trust to be able to step back in your circumstances and wait patiently for the Lord to bring about the next step? And if it gets seemingly worse, or you’ve been waiting a long time, do you have the depth of relationship to understand that his plan is still progressing and you need only wait on him and be faithful to him?

These are as much questions for myself as they are for you to consider, but they are important for us to spend time with. If you relate with Joseph today–take heart. The next chapter is about to unfold and we will see the triumph that takes place when we are faithful to what the Lord has called us into and promises to fulfill.