Used By God (Joseph ) Part 3
Do you feel forgotten? Does life feel lonely and everyone around is against you, your family, your friends, your prison inmates? Well, maybe not your prison inmates, but for Joseph, that was the case. This guy did everything right. He was a caring dude. He cared for his inmates, for his masters (bosses). This dude was the dude you wanted to be working with/for you. The example of all dudes. An example of a husband. It’s crazy to think, this guy was forgotten. What can we learn from Joseph’s life as it relates to our 21st Century life?
Read Genesis 40-41
We see that Joseph isn’t exactly having the abundant life that God offers his people. Joseph is actually having a cursed life. Betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, then lied about and get puts in prison for a crime he never committed, now in prison, we see him out of the kindness of his heart give the interpretation of dreams to his prison inmates, just so they can be happy. But even when they get released, they forget about Joseph and he remains in prison for two more years. Not exactly the life Joseph dreamed of. Literally dreamed of it. He literally dreamed of being a ruler, instead, he is a prisoner.
In this time period that Joseph was locked away, we can assume that he was discouraged, sad, hopeless. We can also assume that he knew God was going to somehow work all this out for his good. Two years is a long time to wait. Joseph didn’t even know how long it would be, maybe two, three, or four years. He might have assumed that he was going to die in prison.
His chance was over. His opportunity passed. Do you feel like that? Do you feel like your opportunity passed? Joseph most likely felt that same way. Opportunity for marriage is over, for that promotion, over. For children, over not happening! But here is the truth in it, we have a God that knows perfect timing. Maybe Joseph had learned a few things first. Maybe God was revealing himself to Joseph in prison. I don’t know. There must have been some reason for God to leave Joseph in the prison for that long. Sometimes God wants to humble us in order to strengthen us and lift us up at that appointed time he has chosen.
Sometimes when we are praying to God for things, his answer is “Yes, but not now”. That was the answer he gave Joseph, “Yes, I’m going to make you ruler, but it’s not time yet. I want you to be a prisoner first.” Who knows, maybe God wanted Joseph to know how the prisoners got treated before giving him a place of kingship? Or maybe this is just how God operates, he allows us to go through bad times, in order to strengthen us and prepare us for the mission he has on our individual lives.
In these moments in our lives in the 21st century, moments that we face hardships, we need to strive towards God by reading His word and praying. Seeking him and getting to know who God is. These things will help you through the storms life brings and also when bad things are not happening, we still need to pursue God, because that will be preparing us for the future war that we will indeed face.
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