When you think of making an impact…of succeeding…of a life that matters…what ingredients come to mind?
Remember that last motivational, life coaching, success seminar…what experiences and training were recommended?
I’d venture to say not the recipe we find in Joseph’s life.
That recipe? Enslavement + Imprisonment + Forgotten = Empowerment for impact.
Imagine it’s you…
- · Barely escaping death at the hands of your brothers you’re sold to a people less-than-friendly toward “your kind.”
- · Forced to travel on a days-without-end caravan, not knowing where you would end up or if you’d even live, you arrive involuntarily in Egypt having learned the lessons of the Coat, Crater and Caravan (see 1).
- · Any hope of ever again seeing family, friends or home has evaporated like morning mist on a hot day, along with the thinnest wisp of a thought of your dreams coming true.
- · Enslaved to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chief of security, Father gives you extraordinary favor and you rise to oversee all your owner’s enterprises.
- · So successful are you that ”…all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.” (Gen. 39:6)
- · Oh…you’re a high school senior or college freshman!
How would you have responded?
My response would have been something akin to, “Whew…Thank You Lord! Not as good as it was back home but not as bad as it could be. From privileged son to slave but my owner is successful, powerful and likes me (thank You)…so no worries about eating. No Sir…not nearly as bad as it could’ve been. Lesson learned!”
It’s not recorded how long Joseph worked for Potiphar or how long it took before Potiphar promoted him but, given his age, likely a few years. During that time, Potiphar’s wife noticed this young hunk and propositioned him…which he flatly rebuffed.
Refusing Joseph’s “no,” she persisted until, “one day he went into the house to do his work but none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his coat saying, ‘Come to bed with me!’ Leaving his coat in her hand, Joseph ran out of the house.” (Gen. 39:11-12)
There is no indication that Joseph did one thing wrong. He probably expected others to be in the house and had he known they weren’t there he wouldn’t have entered.
False accusations, based on the yet another coat, follow and Joseph was promptly but wrongfully imprisoned.
What must he have thought? ”Not again! What did I do this time? I’m trying to live honorably and this is what I get!?!? Hey…God…You seeing this?”
Finding favor again Joseph served as a tacit assistant warden, but still…he was imprisoned.
One day two of Pharaoh’s officials were imprisoned. Assigned to Joseph, after a while he interpreted a dream for each…one good, one not. One would be released and restored…the other, executed.
Speaking with the official to be restored Joseph said, “…please remember me and do me a favor…Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out…” (40:14-15)
Apparently the official agreed and I imagine Joseph thought, “Finally!” But…the official “forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.” (40:23) Joseph didn’t “feel” forgotten…there wasn’t the “symptoms” of forgotten…he was forgotten.
What would you have thought when you realized…forgotten? Perhaps, “Could I please get a little respite…just catch my breath?”
How many times did Joseph think about his family and “back home”? Often…at least judging from Joseph’s reaction when they were later reunited.
Prison cells intensify those thoughts and feelings and I imagine there was a regular onslaught of such until “…the end of two full years…” (41:1)
Two full years…Not a year and seven months…not 23 months, 29 days…
Two full years…730 days…imprisoned AND forgotten...not one moment less.
Two full years...I sense a “How long Father?” in those three words.
Then…after two full years…remembered…and suddenly freed and promoted to second in command…From a prison-position to a palace-position…from sitting in a prison cell to riding in Pharaoh’s Chariot.
But…couldn’t God, the Omnipotent One, have performed a Book of Acts release earlier?
Yes…but He didn’t.
Couldn’t our Omniscient God have sent that official a “Forget something?” dream sooner?
Sure…but He didn’t.
Couldn’t He have immediately transported Joseph to freedom?
Absolutely…but He didn’t…for “two full years.”
Why?
I see two reasons.
First, the stage had not yet been fully set. Pharaoh needed an encounter with the Living God…It arrived in an unexplained dream.
Had Joseph been released one day early, who would have explained it? With a too-soon release history might have recorded, “An unparalleled famine caused the Ancient Far East to starve into extinction.”
By not being released too soon and through explaining Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph was suddenly positioned to impact nations, including his own.
Prison cells aren’t just about us…others’ destiny…their very lives…may hang in the balance.
Second, not only was the stage not fully set, it’s doubtful Joseph was fully ready for the pressures of a palace-position.
Just as craters and caravans force us to face and allow Father’s removal of debilitating weaknesses, the pace, privacy and predictability of prison cells allow Father to build character and strengths in us so palace-positions and Pharaoh-chariots don’t destroy us and we don’t hurt others.
Think not?…Consider…What do you suppose young, spoiled, entitlement-attitude Joseph would have done to his brothers or Potiphar and his wife if he had been promoted to so much authority too soon? Yeah…me too.
Instead, there’s not a hint of retaliation toward Potiphar or his wife…no thought of “I told you” or “Now you’re in for it” when his brothers showed up and bowed.
Many want a palace-position standing in Pharaoh’s chariot…few will work in a prison-position or sit in a prison cell to allow Father’s preparation.
The point? When everything has fallen apart regardless of who’s responsible…when enslaved or in an unpardonable prison…when forgotten by others…
There is One Who can…Who will…pick up and reassemble your shattered life into something new…something better…something you could never imagine or ask…
One Who remembers you…Who can never forget you…
When being steeped in a recipe of enslavement + imprisonment + forgotten…
THERE’S NO TELLING FOR WHAT HE’S PREPARING YOU or what He’s preparing for you!
Father, thank You that it is impossible for You to forget me. Build into me everything I need for the future You planned through me and for me before time began.
In Jesus’ Name…Amen.
Blessings,
Michael M
Please reply to mannmuses@aol.com
PS…When we're going through times of enslavement, imprisonment and forgotten there is remarkable temptation to try to escape but I've learned Father has a really good pursuit team and that if we will wait in grace our Master Chef will blend every ingredient into His masterwork of a Life That Matters.
