Prison

When I decided to set the goal of reading the entire Bible this year, I was a little worried about reading the Old Testament. I thought it would be boring and that I wouldn't get much from it. As usual, I was totally wrong. As an English major, I love stories, and that's what the Old Testament is. It's lots of stories. It has everything--family drama, romance, tension and suspense. It's a great read. God is using it to teach me a lot too. This week, most of my Old Testament reading has been the story of Joseph. You know, the one with the coat with all the colors and the brothers who sell him into slavery and the woman who accuses him of rape and the prison and the dreams and the famine. It's good stuff.

While I've been reading this, several of my friends and I have had rough weeks. I have one friend who is totally overwhelmed and discouraged with teaching (pretty much exactly like I was last year). I have another friend who is dealing with some potential changes in one of her personal relationships, and she's been feeling anxious about them. I have things going on in my life that are making me slightly worried too. In our own ways, we are each in a really difficult place.

Part of Joseph's story is getting thrown into prison by Potiphar after Potiphar's wife falsely accuses Joseph of trying to hook up with her. Obviously, I think everyone would agree that prison isn't really an ideal place to be. It's rather undesirable. Things really aren't that bad for Joseph because he basically gets put in charge, but it's still prison, so I imagine it wasn't all fun and easy. A while after Joseph gets put in prison, the cupbearer and baker of the king of Egypt get thrown into prison too. They have crazy dreams, and Joseph interprets their dreams for them. This eventually leads to Joseph being called in to interpret a dream for Pharaoh, which leads to him being put in charge of tons of stuff in Egypt, saving a bunch of people from famine, and reuniting with his family. In short, yes he spends some time in prison, but it's just part of God's plan for him. A plan that leads to much good.

Genesis 29:20 says that while Joseph was in prison, "the Lord was with Joseph and showed him stedfast love." Sometimes in our lives, God puts in a prison of sorts. He brings us to a place where we don't want to be. Like teaching this year has been for my friend. Or like how waiting on His guidance in a relationship is for my other friend. Or how my issues are for me. We don't like being there, and we just want to get out. But what I learned this week was that God puts us in these places for reasons. These places aren't detours or places we ended up because of a wrong turn. They are exactly where we are supposed to be, and they are part of God's plans for us. We can have faith that, like it was for Joseph, our prisons are steps to an ultimate good. And we can have comfort that, like He was with Joseph, God is with us and will show us his stedfast love.