Joseph: Faithful to the end
Forgotten by men, remembered by God
We’ve talked a bit about Joseph, but today, we will look into two more aspects of the experience of Joseph.
He was wrongly accused and was sent to prison. In prison, he received favour because of his faith in the LORD. There, he interpreted the dreams of two important officials of Pharaoh. Though appreciated, he was soon forgotten (Gen. 40:23). But the LORD did not forget him. After two years, God began to move things around. Pharaoh had two dreams that his wizards could not interpret. Then, Joseph came to be remembered. He was brought before Pharaoh and interpreted his dreams. He was then instantly promoted to become the ruler of the whole of Egypt. What a promotion, from the prison to this position.
Joseph’s experiences have a lot of things to teach us. Even though “God was with Joseph” he was hated by his brothers, sold away to slavery to a distant land, falsely framed, thrown into prison and then was forgotten. If we were in his place, how would we have grumbled and lose our faith in Him.
Many of us do not want to be forgotten by people. Instead, we want to be at the centre of everything. We want followers and subscribers to our insignificant YouTube channels and Instagram accounts. Joseph was not like that, neither is God.
Let us therefore, look into two things:
Firstly, let us emulate Joseph’s determination in trusting the LORD even when things do not go the way we want. He was forgotten and was in prison. Even then, his trust in the LORD as the giver of all things remained the same. He told the officials of Pharaoh that it was God who interprets dreams. He also told Pharaoh that the ability to interpret dreams was not in him, but God (cf. Gen. 40:8; 41:16). He fully acknowledged that it was the LORD who helped him all along. He glorified God.
We thought that we could achieve this and that thing because of our abilities. We tend to take all credits for different achievements. We always forget that it has been the LORD who has brought us this far. Joseph, in contrast, gave all glory to God.
Secondly, it is better to be remembered by God than to be praised by men. Even though Joseph was forgotten, God never forgot him. If Joseph had been without the LORD, he might have been in Potiphar’s house all his life for all we know. But his trust in the LOD and his faithfulness brought him out from such a place to the highest position in Egypt, albeit though prison. When God acts, it does not matter where you are, where you have been. God acted, and no one had a choice but to bow down to Joseph, the prisoner.
In our struggle against sin, let us remain faithful to God. We might be suffering or looked down upon. But let us remember that God sees everything and remembers us always. He never forgets. This is more precious than being remembered by mere men.
