Day 729

In reading more about the life of Joseph I realized something today that I had never realized before. From the time Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharaoh's butler to the time the butler actually told Pharaoh about Joseph was two years.


Can you imagine that? Can you imagine telling someone to remember you, thinking that the minute they were released they would tell the right people and that within a day or two you would be free, only to wait over 730 days to only see the Pharaoh, let alone who knows how long it took to actually take up the position the Pharaoh gave him after interpreting his dream.

There are two different things that jumped out for me from this story. One, how often have I been the butler? How often have I made a promise and then not followed through on that promise? When has there been someone in need who I have missed helping because of distraction or worse because perhaps like the butler I didn't want to remember where I had come from or that I had relied on someone else, so I forget the promise and move forward, until one day that promise comes due.

Now there is hope in this story because I have a feeling that Heavenly Father had purpose for Joseph being in that prison another two years. Thus the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ means that as we strive to have a new heart and align our behavior with that new heart Heavenly Father knows we will make mistakes, we will fall short, we may fall through on certain promises, but His plans are perfect and there is always a way for it to be okay for those moments we miss.

Now I promised two things, so here is the second. Joseph waited two more years, yet he didn't grow angry or resentful, nor forget the Lord, in fact when he is finally freed he tells Pharaoh that his abilities come from the Lord. How often in moments of disappointment, or moments where we feel very alone that the adversary comes to us and asks us "if Christ really loved you He wouldn't leave you here, I mean what has He done for you lately?" In those moments perhaps you could respond "I don't know His plan Satan, but it begs the question what have you done for me lately? Oh and you can leave."
I am adding a bit of humor to that exchange that I very rarely feel in real life, but humor aside that is an exchange that is important to keep in mind, Satan will try to get us on his side, mind you his side just means we aren't feeling very kindly to the Lord at the moment.  But as in the case of Joseph we need to remember that even if the word of man may perish, the Lord's word won't perish. I wonder how many times Joseph thought back to the dreams of his youth, I'm sure he did many times, sometimes in despair and sometimes with hope that nothing is impossible for the Lord, even his freedom (for he was the great grandson of Abraham and Sarah and knew of their faith and faithfulness).
In our life's journey it will feel that sometimes man has betrayed us and sometimes much more detrimental it will feel as if the Lord has betrayed us, yet just as Joseph had an important role to fulfill in the Lord's own time, he first needed to be molded, to have his rough edges smoothed away and to be willing to stand up for the Lord at any cost, even in moments of anguish when he didn't understand why he was still where he was.

We can feel that we are trapped in prisons of our own, it is our choice whether to turn to God or allow Satan to ostracize us, I assure you he will do his best to take us from the Lord. There may be times when the adversary doesn't get us with anger, but instead with self-pity, where we feel so worn down by our trials and pains that we only want to turn inward, but this too can be a dangerous trap, taking us away from service to others. I wonder what was going through Joseph's mind when the butler and cup bearer first came to him with their problems, perhaps he wanted to be left alone with his grief at the life he used to have and being unfairly accused. Yet he reached outside himself and served others, setting up the Lord's plan for the future, even if that plan was two years in the making.

Heavenly Father has a work for us to do, it must be done in His time, He knows all the pieces that must fall into place and He knows how to use us for our best and the best of others. Hopefully we can be as Joseph, trusting the Lord even in the midst of day 729. We can't always see when our release will come, yet remaining faithful means we are never truly trapped.