Genesis 40:1

New International Version

But when all goes well with you, remember me, and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.”

For Meditation

There is so much a person can take before breaking. Physical, emotional, and mental abuses can take their toll on their victim and become too much to bear. It sounds like Joseph reached that point in the prison when he pleaded with Pharoah’s chief cupbearer for favor with his master (Gen. 40:14-15), and why not?

Joseph carried the promise of God revealed in two dreams in his heart, yet everything worked against him. His brothers hated him more for the insinuations in his dreams. They threw him into a well and left him to die, but later, they lifted him and sold him into slavery. His master’s wife falsely accused him of attempted rape, and Potiphar unjustly threw him in jail. How much abuse could the young man bear? How could he know that something worse would happen to him, though he had a supervisory role in the jail? He had served in a similar position before and prospered, but that did not guarantee a secure future.

Where was the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he had heard so much about and trusted? What about the two dreams He gave him? All the negative experiences along the way to the dungeon might have snuffed every hope from Joseph. When he interpreted the dreams of the two officials of Pharaoh, he may have wondered about his own. What was the remotest evidence of his dreams ever coming to pass?

So, he poured his heart out to the chief cupbearer for a favor before the king of Egypt. 

“But when all goes well with you, remember me, and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve [this] dungeon.”

The cry of a wearied soul!

It has no room for faith. The gloom is too deep for any reason to prosper. Hope has taken wings and left a strong desire to die and end it all.

But God!

He never shows His game plan to anyone. Yet His providential hand orchestrates every move to reveal His glory. Everything along the torturous road is part of His architectural design for the promised house of blessing. Every abuse from your oppressors along the way is part of the building blocks of God for your exaltation. Only, you don’t know it, for they are training grounds for your faith. Just let Romans 8:28 speak to your heart here, then allow James 1: 2-4 to instruct you, and you will be wiser.

There is no one more loving, compassionate, and kind than the Mighty One who has put you on that road to glory. At just the right time, God will unveil the reward for your faith and perseverance.

Joseph saw God’s wisdom displayed in his life when he sat beside Pharaoh as lord over Egypt (Gen. 41:39-40). Only then did everything make sense to him, and He could finally look in the eyes of his brother and tell them that though they meant evil for him, God meant it for the accomplishment of His purpose and glory (Gen. 50:20).

So, are you standing where Joseph stood in that jail crying for help from the chief cupbearer?