While Joseph was
there in the prison, the Lord . . . showed him kindness (Genesis
39:20,21).
Here we have another one of those Bible quotes that just
doesn’t sound right: While Joseph
was in prison, God showed him kindness. I might have had the
attitude: “If you want to show me kindness, GET ME OUT OF HERE! Better yet, if
you were really on my side why did you let me get thrown in here in the first
place?” And yet Joseph
was in prison for a substantial length of time – estimates suggest as much as
ten years.
This son of privilege held captive in an African prison
seems somehow changed from the young man sporting his brightly colored coat.
The younger Joseph had his father wrapped around his little finger and took
pleasure in parading that fact among his brothers, flaunting his position as
the favorite. Joseph among the Egyptians is still a confident man, sure of his relationship with
God and willing to stand by his dreams and his convictions, but this foreign
national has been humbled by hardship – first being sold into slavery by his
own brothers, then falsely accused of being a sex offender and tossed into
prison.
Just goes to show: Our plans aren’t always the best way to
get us where God wants us to go. “My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the
Lord (Isaiah 55:8).
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Even though it may not have
felt like kindness at the time, can you thank God for the times you have been
humbled?
I have been humbled many times in my life and every time I have not enjoyed it. My pastor has told me that everyone will eat humble pie in their life time but some will eat willingly and some will be forced. I have forgotten to give God the glory for the successes that I have had and He has caused me to fall on my knees and pray and ask for forgiveness. I have been removed from different positions because of a lack of humbleness on my part only later to learn of another opportunity He has given me to serve. Humbleness is something that is in my opinion never acquired because when we think we are being humble we find that we are not as humble as we would like to think that we are.
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