Overcome Being Forgotten
“Gone, but not forgotten” is a phrase often used to express one’s sentiments on the anniversary of a loved one’s death; also, you may have seen it engraved on a grave marker in a cemetery. To be gone but not forgotten is one thing but to still be here and be forgotten is quite another!
It is commonly agreed among those of us who have spent years making “house calls”, or visiting folks in various types of home-away-from-home situations, that loneliness is the number one complaint we most often hear. There are, of course, times when any one of us might prefer to be alone and “away from it all” - as was the case every now and then during the ministry of Jesus. He advised His followers to do likewise if, for no other reason, to simply “rest awhile”. Time alone for meditation and prayer is indeed a good thing!
Yet, to go “day in and day out” with no familiar voices heard, no family faces seen, is to wonder if those who promised to “keep in touch” have forgotten - not a good feeling at all! We wait, and we wait, and we wait for them to keep their promise.
Waiting is probably the most difficult discipline in the Christian life. Most of us hate to wait! I know I do. Yet, all of us are waiting for something. We might as well get used to it. The question is, “What do we do while we wait”?
In this segment of Joseph’s story – chapter 40 - Joseph is waiting because there is nothing else he can do!
He can’t get out of prison. He can’t appeal his sentence. He certainly can’t escape. He’s stuck in an Egyptian prison, far from home where they think he’s dead. He is there because he has been falsely accused. Joseph waits to see what’s going to happen next . . . .
Listen to what Warren Wiersbe says about Joseph’s time in prison: “God permitted Joseph to be treated unjustly and put in prison to help build his character and prepare him for the tasks that lay ahead. The prison would be a school where Joseph would learn to wait on the Lord . . . He would learn that God’s delays are not God’s denials”.
So, what do we do while we wait - on the Lord’s next move . . . to see what happens next . . . to receive God’s instructions? Do what Joseph did:
Joseph attended to the needs of his fellow inmates – Genesis 40:1-4 . . .
Oftentimes, when we least expect it, we cross paths with someone sent our way providentially. An awareness that “this is of the Lord” consumes us, and we take on the person(s) as a “special project” inasmuch as we sense the Spirit of God working in and through this particular connection to bring about that which is in everyone’s best interests.
Joseph had no way of knowing what the final outcome would be, but he did know that God brought these two people into his presence for a reason, and that his response should be to attend them as best he could under the circumstances.
When such “opportunities” or “assignments” presented themselves to me during my ministry and it became clear to me that “this is of God”, my modus operandi has been, and still is, “Do whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done for as long as it needs to be done.”
In this regard, I have often quoted Martin Luther King, Jr. He put it this way: “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better. If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well.’”
Because God’s hand was upon him, Joseph was promoted by the captain of the prison to be in charge of all the other prisoners. He did whatever fell his lot as best he could. Little did he know that by taking care of them, he was advancing the cause of his own freedom! Attend the folks within your own “community” as well. You will be glad you did!
Joseph intended to do good not harm - Genesis 40:5-8 . . .
Intentionally Joseph responded to his fellow “inmates” by observing their emotional state and expressing concern, whereupon he lent them his listening ear, but did not make the mistake of presenting himself as an all-knowing one. Instead, he did what spiritually mature responders do: He pointed them to God to whom he would earnestly plead on their behalf! That is precisely what our Lord does for all we who like sheep have gone astray and turned to our own way.
Upon our confession of helplessness and commitment of our way unto Him, He responds to our needs and our pleas in loving-kindness.
Joseph believed in the greatness and goodness of God. He knew that being in prison was no hindrance to the Lord God Almighty. Has it occurred to you that God has done some great things in prison?
Remember: the Philippian jailer . . . “Pilgrim’s Progress” written while John Bunyan was in prison . . . Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s experience in a German jail as he awaited execution, wrote “The Cost of Discipleship” . . . the worldwide ministry of Prison Fellowship that was conceived and planned by Chuck Colson while he was in prison?
We serve a God whose almighty hand is at work in every situation in which He is revered, and in every life which honors Him. No barrier, no barbed wire, no boundary line, no atheistic society can keep Him out! Now, folks, hear this:
It is important for us to realize that we can worship and serve the Lord God where we are, even if we’d rather be somewhere else! God has promised to meet with us wherever we gather. Now,
Whereas Joseph intended good for both the cupbearer and the baker, there are times when we have to deal with an unintended outcome - Genesis 40:20-22 . . .
Herein lies a very important aspect of our intervention on behalf of another person in their time of need:
When we “take it to the Lord in prayer” and “leave it there”, we must understand, as did Jesus, that the immediate outcome is not always what we would have it to be. Thus, we pray: “not my will but Thine be done.”
So, whereas we see life from this, the “underside”, God sees the big picture, knows the ultimate outcome, and would have us take Him at His Word when He says: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (in the present) and “All who come to me, I will never cast out” (in the future). Talk about having it both ways! Wow!
Folks, we are “standing on the promises of God”! What a position to be in! Come to think of it, this precious thought makes moot the last verse of Chapter 40: “The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph. He forgot him.”
The one who received favorable news pretended to be grateful. You know what? That happens way too much in life. We intend to do this or that - for example, we intend to “stay in touch” – but we don’t. All too often, either we forget or we are forgotten. Let’s try to do better! We can do better! A simple request: “Remember me”.
As our Lord hung on the Cross, that same request was made of Him: “Lord, remember me.” Our Lord attended to the thief, responding, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
Jesus responded just as His Father in Heaven intended for Him to respond, not only to the repentant thief, but also to all who call upon the name of the Lord, for “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!”
Lord, remember me! Thank you, Lord! God bless thee and me as we prepare to go to the place He promised to go prepare for us. So mode it be! Amen!
