The Divine Pause-Part Three

Thank you to all of you who left comments on last weeks blog both publicly and privately. Integrity is one of those areas that can speak to each of us in some way. Thank you for being so willing to share how it touched you.
This week we find Joseph in prison. As if the poor fella hadn't had it bad enough, now "Miss Polly Potiphar's", as I heard Pastor Jentzen Franklin call her one time, accusation has landed Joseph in prison. Apparently, Potiphar had chosen to believe his wife above Joseph. After all, Joseph was still a servant and she was probably still his bed partner. Not a hard choice. And now Joseph finds himself in possibly one of the worst places a life could be. Not just in prison. But in prison and innocent. Is there much worse?
But once again, whether servant or prisoner, Joseph is faithful where he is planted. And once again his faithfulness takes him to the top of the food chain even in the prison. We're told that "the warden of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it. The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper."
So here Joseph is directing the prison yard games, settling the disputes over who gets the best cell. And then two powerful prisoners come in. The head honcho, Pharoah's, butler and baker. Not sure what they did to mess their lives up so bad, some burnt toast, some wrinkled sheets. But whatever they did there they were. Prison. And who is in charge of them? Joseph. Remember, not a person came in there that Joseph wasn't in charge of.
One particular night the butler and baker both had dreams. When Joseph came to check on them that next morning he could tell they were both in distress. He asked both of them what was wrong. And they both told him they had dreams. He asked them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." And they did. And Joseph interpreted them both. The butler got the better end of the stick. His dream confirmed he would be restored to his position in three days. The baker. Well, not so lucky. In three days, well let's just say, he would have made his last bundt cake. (Sorry-Can't say bundt cake without thinking of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding.")
When Joseph had interpreted the butler's dream he asked him, or begged him, "think of me when it shall be well with you, and show kindness...mention me to Pharoah and get me out of this house, for truly I was carried away from the land of the Hebrews by unlawful force; and here too I have done nothing for which they should put me into the dungeon."
The butler gets his job back. Joseph however he forgets. For two more years, Joseph is forgotten...


Man, what truths to ponder here...


The first one that comes at us is the fact that he's there at all. The fact that a lie, finds Joseph in a prison. Ever had a lie stick you in prison? Ever had a lie told to you, told about you, that has brought you to a prison? I see people in prison from lies all the time. Most of their jail cells however are still lived walking around freely, yet there souls sit imprisoned to a lie. The lie that they'd never amount to anything. The lie that they could never be restored. The lie that they could never forgive. The lie that they could never be forgiven. The lie that shame would always be their cloak. The lie that their dream was too big, their talents too limited, their abilities too small.
And with that lie, whether spoken over you when you were a child, believed when you were a teenager, or bought into when you were an adult, it has left your very soul imprisoned. It has claimed you.
What makes Joseph different? What is worked out of him during this pause? Joseph's body is imprisoned but his soul is free. Still free to serve. Still free to notice other's pain even during his own. Still free to speak life. Still free to help others people reach their dreams. Still free. Completely confined and totally free! How beautiful is that picture? It could be ours. See, Joseph had a choice on the very day he arrived. Curse his circumstances or trust his God. He chose the latter. And it made all the difference. The choices we make remember, will determine our destiny.
And because Joseph continued to believe, God blessed him. He showed him mercy and loving kindness and gave him favor.


What else do we see in Joseph? I mentioned it a few moments ago. I'm still amazed at the fact that he noticed the sad state of the butler and the baker. How do you notice the pain of other's when your crushed beneath the weight of your own? How do you even care that someone else is suffering, when you are suffering so much? But Joseph did. He saw it. And then he ministered to it.
Can we? In the middle of our prison moments are we willing to serve another in their's? Are we willing to get our eyes off of ourselves long enough to minister to the needs of someone else's pain? It is amazing how quickly the environment of our circumstances can change when we aren't wallowing in them. It is amazing how beautifully God can move when our eyes are looking upward instead of inward and we can actually watch Him in the process.

And finally, Joseph asks to be remembered. This scene grips me in my deepest place. I can hear the anguish that is still in his voice. He even shares his innocence. And he begs to be remembered. But he isn't. He is instead forgotten. And not just for a couple days, a couple weeks or a couple months. No, Joseph is forgotten for two years.
Ever felt forgotten? Ever thought finally your chance had come and yet nothing happens? No phone call. No text message. No e-mail. Nothing. Forgotten. What do we do in the forgotten place? Even after we've asked to be remembered? What do we do with that?
I would have expected some bar shaking, some foot stomping, some dish throwing. But we get nothing. Between Genesis 40 and 41 we get not one word from Joseph. So, what can we conclude? We can conclude that Joseph had developed one very valuable thing during this season of his pause. He had become a man of exceptional faith.
Faith is refined during pause seasons. Faith is put into action by noticing the details. I believe faith was able to be activated at that seemingly "forgotten" place in Joseph's life, because he was able to see God in every place of His life where God had already moved. He saw Him in the fact that his brother's sold him and didn't kill him. He saw God in the fact that of all the men that could have purchased him, Potiphar was the one who had. He saw Him in the fact that he had found such amazing favor with Potiphar and how God had blessed the man's entire house. And he had even seen God's favor in the prison cell. And because of all the things Joseph had noticed he had the faith to know God was still in this prison cell with him.
The reason most of us have trouble cultivating real faith in God is because our attention is so self-focused that we are paying no attention to what God is doing in our lives. We're focused on the "main" thing and God is focusing on all the things that lead up to the "main" thing. Or our eyes are so focused on our problem we're not even looking for the places where God is moving. We're too focused on where we think He should be moving.


Remember when we started this series together I told you that I thought the pause might be about to be released on my life. Well, not today. In fact, even though this won't post until Tuesday I'm writing it on Sunday. I just received an e-mail stating that I was still on pause. My first reaction, pain in the gut, burning in my chest, sweating of the eyes. My second reaction, I got up and went to my usual God and me meeting place. We meet in a little path I've carved out that runs through my dining room, down the hall and through the foyer. I walk and He and I talk.
I told Him I was frustrated.
He listened quietly.
I told Him all the reasons why the things that had been suggested might not work, how even if I did all of them, if I jumped through all the hoops it still might not be the right hoop.
He was still listening.
And that's when I began to remember. "You know, what you did for me Thursday night is still amazing. Once again you've proven to take care of every detail of my life. I'm sure you will take care of this one." See, Thursday night at an early birthday celebration, I received a gift that let me know once more how every detail of my life matters to Him. And I know He will lead this part of my life as well. John's letter to the church of Philadelphia in Revelations tells me that God is "He who has the key of David, Who openns and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open." All the doors of my life are in his control.
"Be still and know." He whispered. He's been whispering this to me a lot.
"I know...I know...Thank you that I can come to you with everything that touches my life." I told Him. "You are the first place I want to be."
He knows that. This pause season has created that. If it's done nothing else, it has brought me to the knowledge that there is no one I'd rather talk to first than Him. Why? Because I've seen Him in the details and my, my has He been so kind. But I chose to see Him. I chose to see what He was doing. No matter where I found myself, jail cell, ministering to another's need, serving, forgotten, I knew I was never completely forgotten. That "nothing could ever separate me from the love that is in Christ Jesus." He has cultivated my faith in hard ways through these last fifteen years of my life. But it is that faith that today assures me I am not forgotten.


Do you know what I honestly believe? I think Joseph probably had a little talk with God after the next sun rose and there was no key jingling inside the door of his cell. I have a feeling it was probably a pretty candid conversation. And I believe that the Lord whispered to his heart, "Be Still and Know, Joseph. Just be still and know." I also believe that Joseph's faith muscles were so great at that point that he could have ripped those bars open as if he were the Hulk. But do you know what, he showed the greater faith. The greater faith that says, "I'd rather be in a jail cell with you, then a free man without you." Sometimes the best place for any of us is the jail cell, is the "divine pause." Because that is where God is.
Denise, I don't have that kind of faith. Oh, yes you do. We have each been given a "measure of faith." I honestly believe that measure is the same. Unless we're talking about the "gift of faith". What grows faith however is living a life that chooses to see God. That removes our eyes from ourselves and focus' our eyes on what God is doing in our lives. Trust me, God has been moving in your life. Look for Him. And when you begin to see Him, then trust that if the pause is where He has us for this season, then the pause is the best place in the world we can be...