Forget Me Not

All of us want to be wanted. We want to be remembered. Please, forget me not. Joseph can tell us a story of when he felt forgotten. Forgotten by man. Forgotten by his brothers. Forgotten by his father. And, perhaps, he felt forgotten by his heavenly Father.

In Genesis 40, Joseph is asked to interpret the dreams of the baker and the cup bearer while in the dungeon. He does and gives all the credit to God "Do not interpretations belong to God?" One is to be killed (baker) and the other is to return to his position out of the dungeon (cup bearer). He asks one thing, "But when all goes well with you, remember me [forget me not] and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." All Joseph had done was honor God and refuse to sin with potiphar's wife. We are told that "the chief cup bearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him."

How many of us feel forgotten? By our bosses? By our friends? By our spouses? By God? We have done all that we have known to do. And, all we ask is that we are remembered for the good that we did, and, yet, it seems as though no one remembers. Aren't you glad that our feelings don't dictate reality? There's more to Joseph's story.

In Genesis 41, we learn, "when two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream .... In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him....Then the chief cup bearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings....[Joseph] interpreted them [our dreams] for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged."
God caused Joseph to be remembered, and he was asked to interpret the dreams. This was an emergency for the king and the only solution was Joseph. Once again, he gave credit to God saying,"I cannot do it ... but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." Because of his ability to interpret the dreams, he was "put ... in charge of the whole land of Egypt."

Some basic thoughts:

1. Do you feel forgotten, overlooked? Joseph had to wait two years for the CIRCUMSTANCES to be right for him to be "remembered" by people. God is at work behind the scenes. "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law." Gal. 4:4. Don't you want the right time and not your time? Then, maybe, you will be the only solution?

2. Do you give credit to God for all that has been accomplished?

3. Are you in a dungeon? Be thankful. God is in the business of taking his children from the dungeon to the throne in a matter of moments.

4. Are you keeping a record? Joseph seems to have the uncanny ability to not record keep. Wow! Not a word to the cup bearer, potiphar, or potiphar's wife (the cause of his imprisonment). I want to camp out here for a moment for our marriages. Record keeping. We get historical on our spouses. It's so easy. And, yet, God tells us that love "keeps no record of wrongs." I Cor 13:5. What do you think? How do we not keep record of wrongs? What does that passage even mean?

Back to the story. We are left with Joseph -- The Second in Command. Sold into slavery. Forgotten by his brothers. Thought dead by his father. Forgotten by Potiphar and his wife. Forgotten by the cup bearer. Remembered by God. And, we know this from the following verse which seems, nearly impossible for me to ever utter in his circumstances, "don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives."

GOD REMEMBERS HIS CHILDREN.

See you Thursday night