The Encourager
“Learning to Hold On”
Learning to Hold On
by Jeff Curtis
In Genesis 39, Joseph was maturing in his faith as he was faced with difficulties of bondage. His faith and integrity continued even while he was in prison.
God’s people sometimes find themselves in difficult circumstances which require them to wait in faith for vindication. Joseph was trusted by Potiphar, who put all of his possessions and household concerns under his control – with only one exception, his wife. When she tried to seduce him, Joseph refused to yield to her because such an act would be a betrayal of his master’s trust and sin against God. In spite of his fidelity, and probably to appease Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was cast into prison. Even in these surroundings, God was still with Joseph, caused him to prosper while there to the extent that he was placed in charge of other prisoners (39:21-23). But he remained under bondage as a prisoner himself, and “the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19). This testing was difficult, but it built spiritual strength in Joseph (James 1:2-4, 12; 1Peter 1:6-7).
God’s people should use every opportunity to show their faith, regardless of how difficult and desperate their situation appears to be. An opportunity came to Joseph when two of the prisoners who were entrusted to him had dreams (40:6). When Joseph asked them why they were depressed, they answered that no one there could interpret their dreams. They had lost their access to the wise men, magicians and conjurers of Pharoah’s court, who specialized in interpreting dreams.
This was an opportunity for Joseph to profess his faith in God, the only true interpreter of dreams. Even in the midst of difficult times in the Egyptian prison, Joseph was showing his faith in God; but the outcome of his efforts was disappointing for him. The chief cup bearer said nothing to Pharoah about Joseph, but forgot about completely (40:23).
We don’t know what through Joseph’s mind during this time. He had suffered slavery and imprisonment for about eleven years, and he was no doubt anxious for the Lord to free him from his Egyptian bondage.
If Joseph pondered some the difficulties and struggles his ancestors had endured over the long periods of time, such thoughts may have reassured him that he shouldn’t despair about the future. After all, he knew that God had enabled him to reveal the correct dream, Evidently, the Lord had a plan for his life, although he didn’t know what it might be or when it would become a reality.
God has always tested people’s faith in His promises before entrusting them to positions of greater responsibility. “For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Hab. 2:3; ESV). God isn’t governed by clocks and calendars, and He follow any manmade timetable. God’s people have often wondered, as Joseph probably did, “Where is God? What is He doing? Why does He take so long?” Believers must trust the Lord revealed in Isaiah 55:8; “8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, o are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The early Christians grasped these concepts and showed their faith in the midst of difficult circumstances. Although they apparently expected Jesus to return very soon, they weren’t discouraged by having to wait (1Thess. 4:5). Not long after Pentecost, Peter and John were arrested, imprisoned and threatened with severe punishment if they didn’t stop preaching Jesus as the Messiah and performing miracle in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:5-22). They answered boldly, “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
Their persistence in teaching about Christ greatly angered the Jewish leaders, who considered execution a suitable punishment for the apostles (Acts 5:33). Because of Gamaliel’s counsel, they decided on a lesser punishment of flogging. Nevertheless, they continued “teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” This led to more persecution, including imprisonment, and more beatings (Acts 5:41-42; 6:8-15), and martyrdom (Acts 7:1-8:3), but the apostles and other early Christians were steadfast in bearing witness to their faith, in spite of the hardships and persecutions they faced.
