At a certain point in Joseph’s story (ya know, the man that was gifted a colorful coat by his father), he wounds up in the Pharaoh’s prison for something he didn’t do.
While he is there, he interprets two prisoners’ dreams. From my understanding of earlier Scripture, wild dreams are a common for our man Joseph.
He told the first prisoner, the chief butler for Pharaoh, that in three days, he would be reinstated.
The second prisoner, seeing the interpretation was good, told Joseph about his dream as well. Sadly, his dream meant he would be put to death in three days.
And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”
So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”
Genesis 40:8 (NKJV)
After interpreting the butler’s dream, Joseph asked him to mention his name to Pharaoh, for he had done nothing to deserve prison, but the butler forgot him.
…But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”
Genesis 40:14-15 (NKJV)
It wasn’t until TWO YEARS later that the butler remembered Joseph. Pharaoh had two dreams back to back that no one could interpret, not even his magicians.
The butler hears what is going on and remembers the young Hebrew man who had helped him in prison. He tells Pharaoh about Joseph.
Pharaoh immediately calls for Joseph. After a quick shave and change of clothes, Joseph comes before the Pharaoh and explains that by the power of God he understands his dreams. They signify 7 years of the land prospering, and then 7 years of severe famine.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”
So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
Genesis 41:14-16 (NKJV)
Pharaoh ended up putting Joseph in charge of storing food during the prospering years, so they could have plenty during the famine.
God Remembers Me
This story stood out to me in two major ways. The first being that God remembers me.
The Lord is making a way in everything for His glory. He sees every single one of His children and knows our needs.
In the thick of life, I find myself asking if God remembers me, but the real question should be, “How can I glorify Him in this?“
Glorifying God Outside My Comfort Zone
This leads me to the second thing that stood out to me. God gives each believer spiritual gifts for His glory, but personally, I find myself putting my trust in the gift instead of God.
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person.
A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.
One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (CSB)
As a writer, this means when my words fall short, I feel like I’m useless.
But it’s made obvious in Joseph’s story that even when God wasn’t using his spiritual gift, He was still using Joseph. The gift was just a stepping stone–a small part of the equation.
Last year, I struggled with not being able to write. I had a mental block.
In that year, I grew away from God because I felt like I couldn’t bring glory to Him without using the gift He gave me.
In reality, God-given gifts are just GIFTS, not our only tool of bringing glory and praise to the feet of Jesus. He calls us to meet Him in many ways.
It might feel more natural to glorify God with the gift He has given us, but He invites us outside our comfort zone to praise Him with EVERYTHING we have, not merely with what looks appealing in our eyes.
We’re kind of like the colorful coat. God gives us many opportunities to serve Him, not just one, and it’s much more beautiful that way!
However, this is figuratively speaking, because some translators now believe the word colorful might refer to fashionable sense rather than multiple colors. What do you think though?
Call to Action
It’s difficult to reach beyond our strong points. It feels unnatural. I’m sure Joseph felt the same at moments.
But God sees you and is working through you in ways you cannot see.
Perhaps He is even moving you in a different direction and the only way to get you there is by pausing other things in your life. (That’s me! 🙋♀️)
Whatever season you are in, what are your thoughts on this matter? What do you glean from the story of Joseph?
Do you also struggle to glorify God in the uncomfortable moments of life?
I would love to know your thoughts! Leave them in the comment section or share a link to the post on social media with your thoughts and tag me!
Sunshine in the Haze 
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