“Only think of me when all is well with you, and please do me the great favor of mentioning me to Pharaoh, to get me out of this place.
The truth is that I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and I have not done anything here that they should have put me into a dungeon.”
Genesis 40:14-15 (NAB)
Joseph is speaking to one of his fellow prisoners, a cupbearer for the King of Egypt, the Pharaoh. The cupbearer did something that upset the king and was briefly punished by being thrown into the dungeon. Joseph was already imprisoned there after suffering a series of misfortunes and injustices. He was abandoned by his own brothers, then kidnapped and sold as a slave, and finally ended up in a dungeon for a crime he never committed. He made friends with, and earned the respect and trust of many fellow prisoners and jailers, while he was there. He befriended the cupbearer who previously worked close beside Pharaoh. When the time came for that cupbearer to be released from prison, Joseph pleaded with him to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf. The cupbearer promised to remember Joseph and to intercede for him, but he actually forgot all about him. For days, weeks and months, Joseph kept hoping and praying that the cupbearer was speaking to the king on his behalf, but nothing changed and Joseph remained in the dungeon. Two long years later, the cupbearer finally remembered Joseph and mentioned him to Pharaoh and Joseph finally received his long awaited breakthrough. God has an appointed time for everything. We may feel forgotten at times. People may forget us, but God never forgets us. If Joseph was meant to be freed sooner, God would have quickened the cupbearer’s memory, but He didn’t, because it wasn’t his time yet. When Joseph was finally set free, he was more than just a man freed from prison, he was God’s man of the hour, promoted to second in command over Egypt. It happened before a famine was about to affect all the land, but Joseph had wisdom and a plan for storing grain, which provided food for his nation. He was not merely a former convict with an expunged record, he was a promoted royal official over Pharaoh’s entire household as well as his nation. Pharaoh even took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. Joseph waited years just to be free, and he was delighted just to see the ocean, sun and sky again. He never thought about a ring, royal robes or a gold chain. He spent many years in that dungeon, but his years of waiting were not lost years. God teaches us many lessons in our waiting period. The best thing about Joseph’s character is that although his troubles were all instigated by his envious, abusive brothers, he never held any resentment toward them. When God reunited Joseph to his father and brothers, there was only love and forgiveness between all of them. Although his circumstances took a confusing path, full of heartbreak and disappointments, Joseph’s faith in God reaped a reward later. In the end, Joseph was promoted to a position of power, and was able to supply food to Egypt and his immediate family during the famine. It’s hard to see it in the moment, but God’s timing is always perfect. If we learn one thing from Joseph, it’s that we don’t need to know our destination, when we trust God as our driver. He can turn everything around in one day, by promoting and lifting up those who trust in Him.
Lord, we pray for your perfect will to be done in our lives, and give us the grace and wisdom to wait patiently in spite of disappointments.