Joseph's confidence in God and his straight-forward interpretation impressed me strongly in this chapter. I love Joseph's compassion for the burden of others, too. Despite his unfair circumstances, he cared enough to ask what was troubling his fellow prisoners. An other-focused heart always blesses.
Then there are the dreams; Joseph says they belong to God and he acts upon that confidence in a consistent manner. He simply serves as messenger; perhaps the 'bragging' of his future honor to his siblings was not that at all. With a confidence that his dreams were of God, he may have simply felt he was delivering a message. I so need the reminders in scripture that the center of God's will is not always trouble free.
Again and again Joseph exhibits eyes trained on God and accepting all as a direct trust from Him. That is the way we want to live but it is difficult. Clearly, it is hard to tell someone an unappealing truth--but Joseph minces no words as he speaks to the baker. His interpretation is as concise as the good news he delivered to the cup bearer. Joseph simply accepted the 'trust' of the dream interpretation and passed the message along. Surely Joseph's godly living would have given the condemned man a glimpse of God; perhaps that direct telling allowed the man to prepare for eternity!
Finally, we see Joseph endure what seems to be another unfair situation: forgotten by the man he just reached out to help. Yet it was not the cupbearer in control. God's timing was not yet full; the man indeed forgot but God chose not to intervene. The time for Joseph's rise to power was still to come; God had it all under control. And He has our times under control too. We are not at the whim of many and must always remember God is preparing our paths!
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