Hallelujah! 🙌 Remember:
What did God do for Joseph while he was in prison?
The LORD was with him; God showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.
Unselfishly he offered to interpret the dreams of his two fellow prisoners, telling them that the knowledge came from God (see Genesis 40:8). He still trusted in the Lord, although he must have felt doomed to spend his life in prison. Unfortunately for Joseph, when the cupbearer was restored as prophesied, he did not remember Joseph. In Genesis 40:23, it states that the cupbearer “FORGOT HIM” (Genesis 40:23). The cupbearer didn’t remember what Joseph had done for him for “TWO FULL YEARS”.
Remember this:
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Everything-Happening-For-A-Reason
We can ask this question “Why?”; but we need to truly contemplate this ‘time’/period in Joseph’s life. And I am moved to ask what a fee of you are thinking “Why me?” When we ask why God tests us or allows us to be tested, we are admitting that testing does indeed come from Him. When God tests His children, He does a valuable thing. David sought God’s testing, asking Him to examine his heart and mind and see that they were true to Him (Psalm 26:2; 139:23). When Abram was tested by God in the matter of sacrificing Isaac, Abram obeyed (Hebrews 11:17–19) and showed to all the world that he is the father of faith (Romans 4:16).
We should remember that Joseph was his fathers favorite child…
Joseph, the dreamer and interpreter of dreams, is the son of a dreamer. It is no surprise that he is Jacob’s favorite son. Young Jacob dreamed of a stairway reaching to heaven, traveled by angels. In a dream-like state, Jacob wrestled.
Yet Joseph’s dreams of a Heavenly connection are far more Earthbound in their implications. His dreams place him at the center of a Universe in which every one in his sphere paid him homage, a scenario that was actualized, apparently, through his dream-interpretation skills for the Egyptian Pharaoh.
Joseph’s status as the first-born son of Jacob’s beloved Rachel. Indeed, the emphasis on family lineage in Genesis, particularly focusing on Jacob, Esau and their offspring, seem disrupted somehow by the “novella” about one son’s sojourn in Egypt.
But as we know, the story will circle around and redress old scores, the tensions between Joseph and his brothers due to Jacob’s preferential treatment of him.
Whatever the connection between his childhood experiences and his relationship to his father before his sojourn in Egypt, Joseph as a father seems to take a dim view of his heritage. Note the birth of Joseph’s sons, and their names. He names his firstborn Menasheh, explaining “God made me forget my hardship and my father’s house.” (Genesis 41:51) Extraordinary! A son begets a son, and names him, in effect, for the disruption of his connection to his father.
While this may at first seem harsh, the blow is somewhat softened, or rather illuminated, by the birth and naming of his second son, Ephraim, meaning, he says, “God made me bear fruit in the land of my affliction. (41:52) Hardship. Affliction. Here we see that Joseph is doing some of his own wrestling, coming to grips with the cards he has been dealt, the fate predicted in the realm of dreams.
We note that Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave and was purchased by Potiphar, a captain of the guard of Pharaoh. But even as an indentured servant, Joseph turned every experience and all circumstances, no matter how trying, into something good. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will not give up.
The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that The Lord was with him and that The Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Genesis 39:2-6
And we pray:
Father LORD, I approach Your Throne of grace with my entire heart. I need Your Essence and desire Your blessings. I give You praise for everything in my life. Where I am, who I am blessed to be and every condition in my life. Father, I approach You with gratitude for everything in my life, Hallelujah. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.