I just saw something in Genesis 39 that I hadn’t seen before.
In Genesis 39 and 40 we read the account of Joseph being betrayed by Potiphar’s wife, and then thrown into prison by Potiphar.
I didn’t realize until now that Potiphar had a prison in his house.
Since Potiphar was the Chief of the Palace Guard, he lived in a palace that housed a prison specifically for Pharaoh’s prisoners
So when Joseph was thrown into this particular prison, he was doomed. The guy who ran it was the one he had offended. There’s no way out of that.
On the other hand, a guy like Joseph should never have been in this particular prison anyway. People of Joseph’s low status didn’t come into contact with the king, and would have no reason to be in that prison. That prison was a promotion!
Clearly God had a plan to promote Joseph from the time he was born (hence the dreams at an early age). And this account just shows the means by which God promotes his servants.
If I were Joseph, I would see the prison as a demotion. I would see it as a step back, not forward. But actually, God is positioning Joseph to take over the country. He is one dream interpretation away from being in charge of it all. By the way, God never tells Joseph this in order to keep his spirits up. The whole time Joseph is revealing the futures of other men, his own future is kept hidden from him. He has no idea that the only thing keeping him from being second in command is an audience with Pharaoh.
I need to remember not to become caught up in self pity when things don’t appear to be going right for me. When God allows us to be “put in prison” maybe we should consider what prison we’re in. There might be a very good reason to be exactly where we are, and it could have nothing to do with punishment, or being ignored by God.
It could be God’s way of positioning us for promotion!
Intrigued,
PR