God is always in our midst

By Dean Collins

Pride, jealousy, lack of wisdom or maturity, family dynamics, lust, and more all led to Joseph’s series of challenges. And while he might have helped his own situation by not flaunting his dreams and their meanings in front of his brothers, a lot of his problems came as a result of other people’s sins and decisions. And did I mention someone’s forgetfulness? Joseph stayed in prison up to two years longer than necessary just because Pharaoh’s cupbearer forgot to tell anyone about Joseph interpreting his dream correctly.

God’s plan

When the chief cupbearer and the chief baker had their dreams, Joseph explained to them that the interpretation of dreams falls into God’s business. And God gave Joseph the proper interpretation of the two dreams. Unfortunately, the baker’s story ended in his death while the cupbearer’s story resulted in being restored to serve Pharaoh.

Two years past the cupbearer’s memory lapse, Pharaoh had two dreams that haunted him. It was then that the cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph. And quickly, Joseph found himself in front of Egypt’s leader where he not only interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams but also quickly became the second most powerful leader in Egypt. Both Pharaoh and Joseph gave God credit for all that happened to bring Joseph from the prison to the palace.

It makes you wonder what would have happened if the cupbearer had remembered earlier. Would Joseph have been released earlier? Was it God’s plan to keep Joseph in prison for two years when he knew that Joseph had done nothing to deserve his prison time? We can speculate on the first question, but we won’t know any more than we do now. On the second question, we probably agree that God wasn’t the one who threw Joseph in prison. But we might scratch our heads and ponder why Joseph needed to stay those two extra years. God was not surprised by what happened, and he did work it all together for good in the end. I suspect that early on, Joseph wondered what God was up to or if he had forgotten him - just as we sometimes have those same moments of questioning when we face tough situations.

Years later when Joseph reconciled with his brothers in Egypt, he told them not to beat themselves up over their sins against him. He later assured his father Jacob that whatever had been intended for evil, God used for good. Joseph came to a point of spiritual insight and maturity where he knew God had never stopped working for his good or for the good of his family and even for the good of humanity during the times that he suffered unjustly. Joseph had peace about all of his life. He could look back and even look ahead and see what God was doing through his earlier suffering.

Faithful and dependable

Two passages come to mind that I will use to focus our thoughts and prayers today. The first is from Zephaniah:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Joseph’s experience confirms Zephaniah’s prophetic word. God is always in our midst. He is the mighty one who will save us, quiet us, and celebrate us. Paul said it another way: There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.

The second passage is from Hosea:

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Hosea challenged Israel to exert effort to go deeper in their relationship with God because the almighty God can be fully trusted to both be present and to provide for us every day. Hosea’s words remind us that no matter how overcast the skies might be tomorrow, the sun will come up. God is the one who gives us a new day, who brings the rain, and who has never failed to deliver the four seasons of each year. He is faithful and dependable in every way.

Lord, thank you for loving us when we sometimes struggle with doubt about where you are in a given circumstance. May we heed the words of the prophet Hosea and press on to know you, know your word, and be led by your spirit. May we remember the promise from Zephaniah that you are with us even in this moment. Quiet our minds and hearts by your love that we might rest in this knowing that you are with us and will bring us through this day and every problem and struggle we have by your spirit and for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Genesis 40:1-23; Genesis 41:1-16; Genesis 45:5-8; Genesis 50:19-21; Hosea 6:3 ESV

Photo: Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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