Genesis 40 Devotional

Forgotten but Not Abandoned

““We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.””Genesis 40:8 (BSB)

In prison Joseph is put in charge of two of Pharaoh's officials, his cupbearer and his baker. When both have troubling dreams, Joseph notices their faces and asks what is wrong. They tell him no one can interpret their dreams, and Joseph answers that interpretations belong to God (40:8). Everything happens just as he says: in three days the cupbearer is restored, and the baker is executed.

Joseph asks only one thing in return, that the cupbearer remember him to Pharaoh and get him out of prison (40:14). The chapter ends bluntly: the cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him (40:23). Two more years will pass (41:1). People forget. They make promises they do not keep, and the waiting can feel endless. But Joseph's God has not forgotten him, and the delay is part of a larger plan Joseph cannot see yet. You can keep serving faithfully in the waiting, because God's memory does not depend on anyone else's.

To think about: Who has forgotten you or let you down, and how can God's faithfulness steady you while you wait?