The Prison of Wait

Has your life ever gone from bad to worse to "Is life ever going to be good again?" I can think of someone who was the victim of some pretty awful people, and yet even though his life was the exact opposite of pleasant, he didn't shut down or give up on God.

A young man living in the desert was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery. Joseph fell prey to the dark whim of his step brothers and his life was forever changed in one moment. He was no longer under the protection of his earthly father, but came to a place where he was completely dependent on the protection of his Heavenly Father. (You can find this story in Genesis 39-41)

This is where we need to be as well. We need to be completely dependent on our Father no matter what our circumstances are. Why? Because this world is not our home and there is no guarantee of tomorrow. Our daily lives are a gift of God and our time is in His hands. (Psalm 31:15)

When we are faced with hardships we can either run to God or run away from Him. Joseph chose to run to God in his time of affliction, and God used this time of trial to accomplish great things in Joseph's character.

You're familiar with the story. What happens to Joseph after he is sold into the hands of slave traders is somewhat of a miracle! Out of all the people in the largest nation in the world at the time, Joseph was sold to a man named Potiphar - a man who saw that there was something different about this Hebrew slave. (Gen. 39:3) The difference in Joseph's life was God's favor. Even though Joseph was out of his element in Egypt, God was not out of work in his life! Joseph was put in charge of this wealthy man's home and property, and God prospered all that he did there.

In our lives, there are times when we are out of our element and can't seem to function as we ought to, but if we allow God to work through us during those times, then He will prosper what we do. Not only will our lives be bettered, but He will use it to help and prosper others as well!

Here is where we see that Joseph's life could be viewed as bad in the sense that he was in a foreign land and not a free man. But he didn't allow his circumstances to dictate who he was. He didn't allow his thoughts to make him a prisoner of bitterness and anger, and we can see that by the way God blessed him while he was in Potiphar's house. The story, however, doesn't end there. Joseph's life soon went from bad to worse.

It seemed that unfairness followed Joseph around like an unwanted pet of doom leashed to his side. He had gotten over the fact that his brothers hated him enough to sell him into slavery, but his troubles were soon multiplied as the wife of Potiphar unjustly accused him of attempted rape. Now he goes from a slave in high standing with his master, to a prisoner in a dungeon. What a cruel twist of fate - or was it? The reason for all this persecution, was it of the devil or by design? We already know the end of the story so we have the big picture in our minds, but Joseph didn't have that luxury as he was again thrust into darkness with no hope of a better life.

Sometimes you are thrust into the dark and can't see the way out, but remember that your life doesn't end in the prison of circumstances but is found at the foot of the cross! There is hope and there is life as we walk with God and let Him take care of the boogie man that taunts us with his scary tales of woe for our future. "Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth." (Psalm 71:4-5)

Living in a prison pit, this young man doesn't turn bitter and turn away, but rather he turns to the only one Who hears his cry and loves his soul. Again, God shows favor even in an impossible situation, and Joseph is put in charge of the prison. No matter how low he gets, God exalts him to the top of wherever he is at.

You know what comes next, right? A butler and baker are thrown into prison, and not just any butler and baker mind you, but Pharaoh's butler and baker. They each have a crazy dream, and Joseph is used of God to interpret their dreams. The butler will be restored to his position and the baker will lose his life.

Ah! Here is Joseph's chance to get out of the dark dungeon! He shares with the butler how he was unfairly treated and undeservedly jailed, and the butler assures Joseph that he will remember him before Pharaoh. Then the butler is whisked away to his former life and job.

Now Joseph waits expectantly. He has the hope that he never dreamed of having - that his circumstances are about to change for the better. He didn't know how they would change exactly, but he must have thought that meeting the butler was surely orchestrated by God, and that He would use this "chance" encounter to change his life for the better! But the hope of restoration he had must have slowly fizzled away and died out as weeks, months, and then years went by with nothing. No change. No butler running to his rescue with flying banners and crowds of people coming to see the innocent prisoner set free once and for all.

Have you been in a place similar to this where you had hope that things were going to be changing? That you would finally be restored to the way of life you were used to or that the dream you had was finally looking like it would come true? But then time goes on and it seems you are left where you are forgotten and alone. Joseph must have felt alone in the prison. There are times when we feel alone in our prison of waiting as well.

But just as we look at the story of Joseph and know that God did not forget about him as he sat in a stinking cell, we can have hope that God has not forgotten about us as we wait for Him to work. You see, Joseph's prison time was a time of protection from the elements that could have altered the greater purpose of what God was intending to do through him.

Yes, you read that correctly. His prison was ordained. It was on purpose and for a purpose. Even the butler visit and the hope that surely followed had a purpose. Was that hope false hope? If you are like me, you hate it when faced with false hope. The very idea of false hope in my mind makes me feel angry and defeated. But there was hope for Joseph and there is hope for you and I! It took two years for Joseph's hope to blossom and come to fruition, but it was not dead. If we place our hope in Christ, then that hope is never dead.

When the timing was right, God used the forgetful butler to bring Joseph out of prison and make him second in command of the most powerful nation in the world. God did not forget him, but used the prison wait to shape Joseph's character and prepare him to take on this new role.

We may not ask for the waiting prisons that come in our lives, but when they come we have a choice to surrender our time to God or to turn away and hide from life (and God). Just as Joseph was protected in his prison of wait, we are protected in our waiting prison as well. Don't resist the work God is doing in your life and in your character as you wait on Him to open the next door.

Let your dungeon time be a time when you can learn to depend on God alone. Let Him exalt you in His time and in His way!


~Tiffany~

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