Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Joseph's brothers wanted to get out of Egypt, like, fast. When the sacks of grain were loaded on their donkeys, they immediately began their journey back to Canaan. But something happened on the first night they stopped to rest and feed and water the animals.

When you have done wrong to someone and haven't gone through the necessary process to make things right with them and with God—when you haven't fully dealt with your transgression—you become the victim of the very distress that you put that person through.

Put yourself in Joseph's sandals. How must he have felt as he heard their words? So far as his brothers were concerned, he no longer existed! He was buried in the graveyard of their memories. He was "no more." Out of sight, out of mind, gone forever.

If I read these verses correctly this was a widespread famine such as the world had never known, for it says, "The famine was spread over all the face of the earth." In these circumstances what did Joseph do?

God guided the writer of Genesis to reveal the truth about most every area of Joseph's colorful life. He allows us to see what the man was really like inside, even what he was thinking. We can sum it up in one sentence: his heart was humble before God.

This is an excellent opportunity to shift the scene for a moment and look at all this from the perspective of the guy who's out working in the fields, moving stones for one of those interminable, ever-ongoing pyramid projects.

Pharaoh swept his hand out wide, so as to include all that vast land of Egypt, and said, "It's all yours, Joseph." Then he took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph's hand. You know what that ring signified, don't you? It was the platinum charge card of that day.

There stood Joseph right before him, meeting all the requirements. But even then, when it seemed appropriate for Joseph to volunteer, he restrained. The king, however, knew Joseph was the man for the job. Who isn't impressed with Joseph's self-control?

After those two full years, Joseph experienced a turning point in his life—on a day that seemed like any other day. That morning dawned like every other morning over the previous two years. Just like the morning that dawned before Moses saw the burning bush.

The process of discovering, processing, purifying, and shaping gold is a lengthy, painstaking process. Affliction is gold in the making for the child of God, and God is the one who determines how long the process takes. He alone is the Refiner.

When Joseph saw the cupbearer taken from the prison, he must have thought, Now's my chance! This guy has Pharaoh's ear. He'll get me out of here. We don't know whether Joseph knew what happened to these men.

Pain, when properly handled, can shape a life for greatness. History is replete with stories of those whose struggles and scars formed the foundation for remarkable achievements. In fact, it was because of their hardship they gained what they needed to achieve greatness.

I smile as I read this, because if anybody ought to have had a sad face, it should have been Joseph. His plight was much worse than theirs. They were there on a whim of the Pharaoh and surely would not be there forever.

A cupbearer was the person who tasted the wine and food of the king before he ate or drank. That way, if it was poisoned, "So long, cupbearer," but "Long live Pharaoh!" He also would not allow poorly prepared food to be served to the pharaoh since he was responsible for watching the monarch's diet.

Twice we read in that short account, "The Lord was with Joseph." Joseph began to see the hand of God in his prison experience. In what could have been the direst of positions, the dreariest of places, Joseph prospered.

If anybody knew about unfair treatment, about a false accusation, about being an innocent victim on the receiving end, it was Joseph. First, he received unfair treatment from his family. His brothers hated him, wanted to kill him, but sold him into slavery instead.

Imagine what must have been going through Joseph's mind at this point, shortly after he was incarcerated. He was not only innocent, he had resisted blatant temptation over and over again. (He'd never read Genesis 41. He didn't know what the final outcome would be.)

The appeal of sensual lust works like a magnet, drawing two "sudden and fierce" forces toward each other—inner desire and an outer bait. Let's face it, you can't escape the bait if you live in the real world.

This is a good time to call to mind several lessons we can learn from Jacob's family and Joseph's adversity. The first is obvious. No enemy is more subtle than passivity. When parents are passive, they may eventually discipline, but by then the delayed reaction is often carried out in anger.

Before we get better acquainted with Joseph, let's take a quick glance at some background information. It will help if you remember that his biography falls neatly into three distinct segments.