Galatians 6:9 CSB – Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
Joseph’s Resilience in Prison
Joseph Maintained His Sense of Responsibility to Others
Genesis 39:2-5 CSB – The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.
When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful…
From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessedthe Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned,
Genesis 39:21-23 CSB – But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him….
The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority,
The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.
Matthew 6:34 CSB – don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Joseph Kept His Focus on Helping Others
Genesis 40:1-4 CSB – After this, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guards in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time.
Genesis 39:5b CSB – each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.
Genesis 40:6-7 CSB – When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
Joseph Maintained Confidence in God
Genesis 40:8 CSB – “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Joseph Kept Serving God with His Gifts
Genesis 40:9-13 CSB – So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. 10 On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 “This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer.
Genesis 40:14-15 CSB – But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”
Joseph Models the Stockdale Paradox
Genesis 40:16-17 CSB – When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17 In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
Even Though Knocked Down Again, Joseph Refuses to Lose Hope
Genesis 40:20-23 CSB – On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants.21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Galatians 6:9 CSB – Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 CSB – Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.
Therefore we do not give up.
Learning Resilience from Joseph’s Example
- When discouraged, find someone to help
2 Corinthians 1:4 CSB – [God] He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
- When discouraged, focus on doing the next right thing (God is preparing you for future)
- When discouraged, keep trusting God
Job 13:15 CSB – Job said, Even if he kills me, I will hope in him
