It is when nothing SEEMS to make sense. Life can be up and down and nothing seems to make sense. You are being battered from every angle. There are some principles we can apply. Joseph is in a prison and gives us five prison principles. Joseph was totally innocent yet there he is in prison.

1 – Don’t demand to understand

What Joseph had done was right. He is lied about and falsely accused. There are times like this in our life. See Proverbs 3:5-6 and Isaiah 50:10-11. You can be serving God and still have darkness. You have done nothing wrong, yet things are not going well. Life is not always joy. Job lived in a time of darkness and demanded to understand. Job did not understand but God did understand. John the Baptist did not understand when in prison. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he was perplexed. There are times in life when things do not make sense. The darkness can never put out the light. If you are experiencing darkness it does not mean that God has left you. He has allowed it for a reason. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thought are high above our thoughts. Things may not make sense now but may make sense later.

2 – Don’t fail to faithful (vs. 21)

Joseph was an innocent man in prison. Joseph was not sitting and sulking but rather serving the Lord. Joseph was not a fair weather Christian. Continue to serve the Lord – keep witnessing, keep praying, keep giving, etc. The same God in the good times is the same God in the bad times.

3 – Don’t bow to bitterness (Genesis 40:14-15)

There is not a note of bitterness when Joseph talks to the butler. See 1 Peter 2:30. He had reason to feel bitter with his brothers, Potipher’s wife, etc. If you look to people to recognise your worth you are going to be disappointed in life. God was with Joseph.

4 – Don’t be unwilling to wait (Genesis 40:20; 41:46)

The butler forgot about Joseph. See Psalm 37:5-9. When you don’t understand – wait. God is never late or early. God is always on time.

5 – Don’t let your dreams dissolve (Genesis 41:37)

Joseph was given a dream and he did not lose sight of that dream. At the right time God exalted Joseph from prison and made him second only to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. Joseph was in charge of everything because he did not forget the five principles. The day is coming when God is going to make everything alright. Don’t ever lose your dream. If you don’t have a dream – get one!

Categories: Genesis