then the chief cupbearer said to pharaoh, “i remember my offenses today. when pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and i, each having a dream with its own interpretation. a young hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. and as he interpreted to us, so it came about. i was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
then pharaoh sent and called joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before pharaoh. [genesis 41:9-14]
after waiting for two more long years, God, through the memory of the chief cupbearer, makes it known to pharaoh the miraculous ability of a young hebrew man that he met in prison.
in an unlikely (and impossible) turn of events, a prisoner now has the audience with the king. there are no coincidences: God is ordaining all of human history to magnify his glory.
God prepared joseph from the time that he was a boy to trust in him, to know him, and to know when he is moving by orchestrating the dreams–even the dreams of pagan worshippers of egyptian gods–even unbelievers are being used of God to magnify his glory.
what has God prepared you for, in your circumstances? let the apostle tell us:
for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [ephesians 2:10]
this is it:
we were created in Christ Jesus.
all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made [john 1:3]
for by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [colossians 1:16]
we were created for good works
for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. [james 2:26]
by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [john 15:8]
let us walk in the victory and work that the Lord has prepared for us, being obedient to the call–let us walk the light of the Lord!
for your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness. [psalm 26:3]
and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts. [psalm 119:45]
o house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the LORD. [isaiah 2:5]
again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “i am the light of the world. whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” [john 8:12]
but i say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [galatians 5:16]
and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [ephesians 5:2]
and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. by its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. they will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. [revelation 21:23-27]
despite the pit and the pain and the favor of the pharoah, joseph walked with the Lord, he did not know his purposes, but he learned to trust the steadfast love and sovereignty of the Lord–let us walk in such a way that magnifies God, regardless of our circumstances!
~ce