Joy in Prison

Joy in Prison

"And Joseph's master took him, and put him into a prison... But Jehovah was with Joseph... and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper" (Gen. 39:20-23).

When God lets us go to prison because we have been serving Him, and goes there with us, prison is about the most blessed place in the world that we could be in. Joseph seems to have known that. He did not sulk and grow discouraged and rebellious because ."everything was against him." If he had, the prison-keeper would never have trusted him so. Joseph does not even seem to have pitied himself.

Let us remember that if self-pity is allowed to set in, that is the end of us -- until it is cast utterly from us. Joseph just turned over everything in joyous trust to God, and so the keeper of the prison turned over everything to Joseph. Lord Jesus, when the prison doors close in on me, keep me trusting, and keep my joy full and abounding. Prosper Thy work through me in prison: even there, make me free indeed. --Selected

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Imagine, God giving you a vision as a 17 year old and this vision is so lucid and powerful that it stains your identity forever. The vision becomes transcendent to wishful thinking and exorbitant dreaming; it is something that is just as real and the air that you are breathing. The power and magnitude of this vision shakes the foundation of your existence and creates enemies among your closest friends and family. This vision is so distinct, dominant and compelling that it leaves no room for waning confidence.

Then, out of nowhere (maybe not out of no where), those that theoretically should be supporting you, turn against you. They actually plan on killing you, but decide to sell you into slavery and tell the rest of the family that you died a tragic death.

Now imagine as a slave the vision being so much a part of you that you see past your circumstances and you relate to your dream; your circumstance says slave, but the vision says king/queen. Imagine that even in the gracious manner in which you engage the your current suffering, someone decides that you haven't suffered enough and lies on you. Now you are in prison for a crime you didn't commit. Well certainly this is the last straw, right? No, the vision stabilizes you in the midst of adversity. You do not become frenetic or unglued at the sign of trouble, delay, disappointment or betrayal; you know that your moment of breakthrough is coming. You know that if you continue to press on in His will that you will stand in the middle of the oasis of promises fulfilled.

Imagine that you finally reach that point where the vision becomes a reality; only its 13 years later. You are no longer a 17 year old kid, but a 30 year old adult.  The scripture says that Jehovah was with Joseph. God's presence was with Joseph so that Joseph was not alone. He was with him as the one who elucidated the vision when it  was threatened by the clouds of nebulousness. He was with Joseph as the incessant reminder of purpose and destiny. Even with Joseph being enslaved and imprisoned, God made all that he did prosper.

God wants to prosper you. Not after you exit the storm, but while you are dead in the middle of. I believe it was Smokie Norful that said that God blessed him right dead in the middle of his mess. God gets a kick out of making sense of your mess. He delights in baffling your enemies with His supernatural power, which He gladly uses on your behalf. So, I conclude that there is reason to rejoice in the midst of the disappointment. I reassess the darkness as the place where God desires to bust a move in your life. The darkness is the place that hides the lie and reveals the truth. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace