SCRIPTURE: Genesis 40:1-23

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Joseph continues to honour God, even though he was forcibly taken from his homeland, and falsely jailed for a crime he did not commit. He has not despaired of God’s hand, and affirms that He is still in charge, the only one that can interpret dreams. His appeal to the cup-bearer to remember him when he is set free shows that he has still not given up hope. Hope in God, hope in rescue, even through this lenghty time of misery. And his waiting is still not over, for the cup-bearer will forget him.

Why does the Lord wait so long? Why does the Lord allow things to go from bad to worse, and we have to endure such trials? Maybe Joseph is asking these same questions, maybe not. He does not allow his jail time to drive him to despair and defeat, even in jail he has a hopeful, positive attitude, which is what attracts the jailer to him. What about me? Do I have a winning, hopeful attitude that attracts others to me when I am in the “pits of despair?” Am I gloomy, blaming the Lord, miserable to be with? Is the Lord maybe testing me (and Joseph) to see whether I will cling to Him in the hard times?

PRAYER:
Lord, I do become gloomy and despairing, hardly someone that others want to be with. Help me to cling to You, and to hope, even when everything seems against me. May my faith attract others to hope in You. Amen.