The King's Prison

“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.” Genesis 39:20 NIV

The story of Joseph is always a comfort to me in many ways. Joseph had a hard time in life for a long time. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, put in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and sold out by people he helped. But in all of that, he stayed true to his faith in God. Somehow Joseph knew that God had a much greater plan for him than his present circumstances would show.
This particular verse stands out to me because it gives a small detail that we may miss in the reading of Joseph’s story. Joseph was not put into a regular prison. He was put into the place where the king’s prisoners were held. This was the king’s prison. Joseph was in the company of people who had access to the king in some point in their lives. While Joseph was in prison, he still did what he would have done on the outside in terms of his gifts. He managed the prison records and interpreted dreams. He was still a leader, even when he was in prison. And as a result, when he interpreted the dreams of two of the king’s servants, one of them got out of prison and eventually remembered that he met Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Pharaoh called Joseph out of prison and had him interpret a dream that eventually saved Egypt and the surrounding areas from the famine that was coming. But Joseph may not have ever gotten there without being in the king’s prison.
Sometimes we all are guilty of despising where we are in life. Some positions seems to be worthless. We could develop a woe-is-me attitude about our circumstances. There is always greener grass somewhere. And when we get there, we sometimes even want to go back to the other grass. But maybe, from Joseph’s story we can learn a thing or two. God’s plan for our lives is so much bigger than our individual goals and dreams. God is not simply interested in getting you to a place of prosperity or influence for your own good. He uses those positions to help others. Yet sometimes, in order to get to that place, we have to go through a prison of our own. A place where you feel like you are in bondage. A place where you feel like your freedom is restricted. A place where you feel like you don’t belong. But like Joseph, we may not be in a normal prison. Maybe we are in the king’s prison.
Wherever you find yourself in life, be sure to look around. No matter where you are, God’s plan for you is bigger than you will ever know. Your surroundings are just a part of the plan. It may be that while in your own prison experience, you meet someone who has the key to your release. But if you stay stuck on the fact that you are in prison and never stop to use your gifts and talents anyway, you may miss it. What if Joseph was so distraught about the fact that he was in jail for a crime he didn’t commit that he refused to become a leader? What if he figured that there was no use in interpreting dreams because the dreams he had where he was a leader over all his family seemed to not have come to pass? What if he had a woe-is-me attitude? Israel may have been destroyed by the famine. Egypt may have never been in a position to provide food for the surrounding nations. All because Joseph refused to be who God called him to be, wherever he found himself. Even in a prison.
So no matter where we are, I pray that we all have the courage and faith to be who God called us to be. If you have a promise from God about where you are going in life, don’t worry about where you are now. Just be the person He called you to be and let the rest of it work out. Being your true self can put you in position to get to the next level. But if you spend your time and energy feeling sorry for yourself or lamenting over what you lost, you might miss it. And who knows how many other people will be affected by that decision. Have faith that God’s plan is bigger than any man-made institution or agenda. Maybe they wanted you in prison, but God wanted you to meet your cellmate. Maybe they wanted you to fail, but God wanted you to meet Him in that place. Maybe they wanted to lay you off, but God had you meet someone in the unemployment office. Maybe they wanted you to be frustrated, but God wanted you to develop compassion. Maybe they wanted you to lose your home, but God wanted to give you another one. MAybe they made you feel small but God wanted to show you how big He is. You never know. But just because you are in a prison today, doesn’t mean God has forsaken you. Do you anyway. You might be in a prison today and in the palace tomorrow.