I wrote about the biblical story of Joseph a while ago. Joseph is in my top 3 favourite characters in the Bible, along with Samson and Jonah (I do like the questionable characters). This is part II of the post titled ‘Connecting Dots’.

In prison, Joseph helped the Cup Bearer and Baker interpret their dreams and the Cup Bearer PROMISED that he would speak to Potiphar about Joseph when he got out. People can be so fickle and the entire story of Joseph is full of the young man’s getting hurt and betrayed by people he loved and/or helped. So, the Cup Bearer guy got out of prison and didn’t even remember my man Jo. Let me tell you one thing, we sometimes read this story and think because joseph was a good guy maybe he just accepted his fate and waited patiently on God but we see that Joseph himself was impatient and desirous of leaving the prison too! He told the Cup Bearer when the man was going to be restored to his position as Pharaoh’s wine server, “And please remember me and do me a favour when things go well with you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison but did nothing to deserve it.” (Genesis 40:15).

It must have been hard.

But I think of all the lessons learnt, the real moral of the story for me, is at the end. Funny thing is that I never, ever realised how spectacular the story of Joseph’s victory is. So after years of prison chilling, Pharaoh has a nightmare that no one can interpret. Now the Cup Bearer remembers Joseph (well thank you kindly sire!), and tells Pharaoh that there is a Hebrew slave in prison (nice introduction), who can help. Not only does Joseph interpret the dream when he is brought before Pharaoh, he even goes on to tell King P how to handle things in response to the revelation in the dream. Potiphar is awed at the wisdom and makes Joseph the equivalent of Vice President and Financial Chancellor of Egypt. I’m not talking Nigerian style V.P, I’m saying Joseph was in fact Prime Minister with Pharaoh as ceremonial head. #Pow.

Now here is the craziness of this whole thing. Joseph was a Jew. Real Hebrew boy not Egyptian of Hebrew descent. Nope, pure, full-blooded and unadulterated Hebrew-obey-Sabbath-rules-read-Torah Jew. Its like a Nigerian becoming president of the USA….HOW?! And he wasn’t just any Hebrew, not like a Hebrew guy whose dad was ambassador of Israel and grew up with Pharaoh and a clique of wealthy Arabs, a guy with ties to several royal families, not the type who plays polo with the toffs and sloanies and and goes hunting in the country with mates from prep school days in Eton. Hell naw, I’m of a Hebrew SLAVE, who came from the prison to be president. #NoObasanjoMoreMandela.

Marveilleuse and incroyables!
Unbebloodylievable!

Here is the truth, promotion truly does not com from the East or the West, the North, South or from any man. Promotion can ONLY come from God. And we can never, ever be able to understand the breath, the scope of God’s power and intellect. I’m telling you. We just have to trust. Think about this, if Joseph had his way, the Cup Bearer would have released him from prison by telling pharaoh, ‘Sir, I know this guy in jail, a real stand up guy and just all-round decent you know. I think he was framed Sir, please can he be released? I can vouch for his integrity”. And Joseph would have been merely a released slave, with a prison sentence hanging over his head (and no employment references) or at the most a free but poor man in Egypt scavenging for a future. Or perhaps with the Cup Bearer’s palace connections, Joseph would have become a slave in the palace. Woo-hoo! Not.

But you see the extent of man’s thought for himself, “Just release me! That is enough!” There is a limit to our vision and our understanding, there is only so much and so far that our eyes can see. Compare our thoughts for ourselves to what God sees inside each one of us; the potential He believes each of us holds, the destiny we have… you just marvel. It’s crazy to think that you in yourself are sufficient, that you have everything you need for greatness inside of you from the very beginning. To think that inside of Joseph from the very start was leadership. From the time Joseph was a boy, he was dreaming of himself being worshipped by others. How? His heart knew that it was called to more, to leadership and a greater destiny. From the beginning God had planned it that joseph would be not even the prince of Egypt but the King of Egypt. HOW could Joseph even with his ideas of leadership, have known this or even done this on his own?! Joseph in far away Canaan?! Egypt ke?! How? But every single piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was his life, fit were it was supposed to be and the picture was stunning.

That saying that,”Everything works out for good for those who love the lord and are called according to his purpose” is so true. You might stray off the right path but trust me, if you love God and your heart truly desires to live in accordance with His purpose and direction for your life, even the crooked path in your story will lead to the right end. To think that Joseph was the catalyst for the Exodus, that Joseph was the one who went ahead over a decade earlier to Egypt to save his family from the hunger and famine in Israel. Who woulda thunk it?! God just awes me forever and ever! His wisdom is too far reaching. He is the dot connectah! Lol.

The truth of the matter is that everything we face is a test, we are tested not so that we might fall but so that what is truly inside of our hearts is revealed to US. We alays say things like, “I would NEVER ever do X, or I can’t believe Kate did Y, I would NEVER” but how can you know if you are not tested, if you are not put in the same situation as Kate. God gives us tests in the same we get tests at the end of lessons at school; to ensure that we understand the lessons we are taught, to make sure we can apply the principles in real life. The problem is that the devil attempts to turn every test into a temptation in the hope that we fail the test and we who are under the burden of it all, feel like it’s a trial. Test, remptation, trial; same event. I learnt that from a sermon by this excellent Irish preacher called Hassan Boyle in church.

The truth is that God is rooting for everyone of us to pass the test, He only lets you face the test because He knows that you have the capacity within you to pass it. But many people fail at the very first point of the test. Some of us in Joseph’s position would have killed ourselves in the pit when our brothers hurt and disappointed us saying, “…ah if my own brothers can treat me this way I might as well die!” Some of us, would have made it past the pit and survived the slave market driven solely by revenge. I know I can be in that category, “I won’t die now, I’m going to live so that I can return to Canaan and repay my brothers for this!” For some of us, Mrs. Potiphar would be our Waterloo. You can trust that Madam Potiphar wouldn’t be your regular sugar mummy, trust that she’d be built like Cleopatra, all figure eight, kohl’d eyes, red lips with Egyptian tricks up her sleeves Lol. At that point you will even feel like that is your reward for all your suffering, “Haba! Is it easy to cross desert by camel?! Perhaps this is God’s reward for all my suffering.” Lol.

One thing about Joseph’s character that really spoke to me is his CONSTANCY. There are some virtues that seem to be extinct in the world today, they are attacked consistently with criticism, mockery and jokes…or sometimes just ignored in the hope that they’d go away. Purity is one of such virtues, constancy and loyalty are others. Regardless of the thoughts of everyone around him, Joseph did His thing je-je. Regardless of the situation, Joesph remained a principled man at all times; same character at Potiphar’s was the same character in prison. There are few things more important than integrity; to ourselves, to our principles, to our promises and to God. The truth is, the battle is not out there with the world and its people, every battle is won first on the inside through the conquering of the self.
Who am I when n