We have been studying the life of Joseph on Wednesday nights for the past month. He was forced to endure a good deal of suffering. He grew up the favorite son of his father Israel (formerly known as Jacob). His brothers hated him so much they sold him into slavery. He was taken to Egypt where he was bought by Potiphar. He excelled in his labors so much that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything.
Potiphar had a wife with a roving eye and a wicked heart. Joseph became the object of her lusts and began making sexual advancements on a daily basis. Joseph remained firm and then one day she pressed her desires a little too much and Joseph fled leaving his coat in her hand. She concocted a story about Joseph and Potiphar had him thrown into prison.
I just finished reading [Gen 40:1-23]. Joseph was given favor by God again in prison and put in charge of the other prisoners. Two people from Pharaoh’s court were thrown into prison; the baker and the cupbearer. Both had dreams and God gave Joseph the interpretation of both dreams. The cupbearer was to be restored to his position but the baker was to be hanged.
Joseph begged the cupbearer to remember him before Pharaoh and how he had been unjustly sold into slavery and thrown into prison. Sure enough both dreams came true and you can only imagine the hope that grew in Joseph’s heart thinking the cupbearer was going to speak on his behalf to Pharaoh who held the keys to Joseph’s long held desire for freedom.
Verse twenty-three sums it up. “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” If you proceed on to chapter forty one and verse one, here is what you read, “Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream and behold he was standing by the Nile.”
Did you catch that phrase “At the end of two full years.” Picture Joseph in those immediate days after the cupbearer left the cell hoping that any day he would hear footsteps and the prison door would open and his freedom would be won again. One day turned into a week, a week into a month, and a month into a year and a year into two years. That is 730 days of waiting. That is 17,520 hours of waiting, praying, hoping, and then in turn losing hope.
You know Joseph continued to plead for God to release Him. Joseph most assuredly prayed for the cupbearer to remember him. You know Joseph at times must have felt forgotten by the Lord and wondered why God delayed in answering his prayers. You think about two full years being in a stinking prison surrounded by some of the worst people from society and knowing the whole time you were innocent and did not deserve to be in that place would be hard to live with.
I know there are some of you reading this who are that frustrated. You might even be beyond frustration. You are in circumstances that make you feel God has forgotten you. Some of you feel abandoned and you feel like the promises in scripture have been broken and the Lord is no longer trustworthy and reliable. You feel betrayed, forsaken, deceived, and disillusioned with God. Let me assure you that you are not the first person to feel that way.
I went through a season like that from the years of 2003-2005. It did not matter what I prayed our circumstances did not change for the better. In fact, in some ways they grew worse. During that time I wondered why the Lord did not step in and open the doors to our cell but all the prison doors remained firmly shut. There were days when I felt I was on the verge of mental breakdown because I could not make sense out of the truth of scripture in the context of my circumstances. It was a hard spiritual and mental battle but God pulled me through. I never doubted God loved me I just could not understand why He did not step in fix things. What I thought then was He had forgotten me but what I have learned since then is that He was refining me for greater purposes.
God used that time to teach me things I am not sure I would have learned in other easier circumstances. My faith was strengthened. My love for God was deepened. My leadership ability was expanded. I learned to love people and especially those who suffer. I learned to have compassion. I was able to develop a deeper understanding of the scriptures and I learned perseverance. God did not forsake me. He might have been silent but He was not absent.
In the middle of what you are going through, you may not be able to discern the work of God or even feel His presence but I assure you He is there working out His plans. He is there, though sometimes silent, but never absent. He is present with you in your own private prison. Though you feel forgotten, I assure you that you are not. “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” [Ps 139:17-18] God has not forgotten you. He has promised never to abandon you. [Heb 13:5]
You will have to read the rest of Joseph’s story to find out how God shows up. I don’t have time to get into that right now. What I do have time for is to remind you that you might be in the middle of “two full years” as you wait on God to step in and intervene. I remind you that His mercies are new every morning. Even today they are new right where you sit. I say again He might be silent but He is not absent. Press on in enduring faith. He will not fail you
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