38and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God’s spirit in him.”39The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else.40I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.41I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.”42The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph’s finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain round his neck.43He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honour went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt.44The king said to him, “I am the king — and no one in all Egypt shall so much as lift a hand or a foot without your permission.”
-Genesis 41:38-44
Can you imagine how Joseph was feeling in Genesis 41?
He had been summoned to see the King, and this would be his first time outside the prison walls in years. As he bathed, he may have thought “what have I done?”. As he shaved, he may have wondered “where am I going?. As he dressed, he may have worried “who have I upset now?”.
You can understand his concern. Here was a person whose only crime had been choosing to believe in his dreams, and neglecting the reality that not everyone who heard his dream would share his enthusiasm for it.
Despite being abused, beaten, criticised and disgraced, he had maintained his integrity – but where has that gotten him? In prison!
Joseph had no idea what God was about to do on this fateful day, and in seven verses, his entire life changed.
Many of us are in places similar to Joseph. You may not be in a physical prison cell, but perhaps circumstances have you confined in a way that has prevented you from ever seeing a way out. Like Joseph, many of us have been accused of things we have never done, sometimes by those we trusted.
This is just a message to remind us to never give up on God, even when life seems to be at it’s darkest. If only you knew the Joseph-style turnaround God was arranging behind the scenes – it would blow your mind…
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