Genesis 40:8-15: a reflection

8They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.” 9The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, 10and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” 12Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer. 14But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. 15For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

Joseph is in prison, unjustly, far from home, forgotten. And yet when two fellow prisoners, Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker, wake troubled by dreams they cannot understand, Joseph, in the midst of his own affliction, turns outward to help them. Why are your faces downcast today? he asks, and offers to interpret, giving God the credit: Do not interpretations belong to God? Though he has every reason to be consumed by his own suffering, Joseph attends to the trouble of others, serving them where he is.

Notice what Joseph does in his affliction: he notices others. He is imprisoned, wronged, with troubles enough of his own, yet he sees that his fellow prisoners are downcast and moves to help them. His own suffering does not turn him wholly inward; he still has eyes for others' pain and a willingness to serve. And he does add, quietly, a request to be remembered, a very human hope, which for a time goes unanswered. But even so, in prison, Joseph serves.

That is a quiet example for our own seasons of affliction. When we are suffering, wronged, or forgotten, the natural pull is to turn wholly inward, consumed by our own trouble, with no attention left for anyone else. Joseph, in prison, still noticed the downcast faces around him and served. Even in your own hard season, you can lift your eyes to others' pain and be a help to them. Do not let your suffering turn you wholly inward. Like Joseph, notice the troubled faces around you, and serve where you are, even from your own place of affliction. And trust God with your own hopes, even the ones that seem forgotten, as Joseph's was, for a time.

Lord, Joseph, unjustly imprisoned and forgotten, still noticed his fellow prisoners' downcast faces and turned outward to help them, serving others in the midst of his own affliction. When I am suffering, wronged, or forgotten, keep my suffering from turning me wholly inward, consumed by my own trouble. Help me, like Joseph, to lift my eyes to the pain of others and to serve where I am, even from my own hard place. And help me trust you with my own hopes, even the ones that seem forgotten for a time. Let my affliction not close my heart to others, but leave me still able to serve.