While writing last week’s post, I did a little reading into the life of Joseph. I have read this story countless times and have identified with it on so many levels, been inspired by his courage to dream, forgive and follow after God despite hardship. On re-reading this story, I was drawn to the account of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream {Genesis 41}.

Joseph was by now familiar with prison life having been in and out of jail. He was also accustomed to being overlooked while others were restored {Genesis 40:14, 23} But on this particular day, Pharaoh summoned Joseph because of a troubling dream. Joseph did what he was gifted at and interpreted the dream like he had many other times before. What struck me though was how Joseph suggested that Pharaoh appoint a wise and discerning man to overlook the famine situation {Genesis 41:33}.

Basically, Joseph was saying “even though it is not me Pharaoh, go ahead and appoint a man who will get the job done!

”I do not know the state of Joseph’s mind and heart at this point because the bible is silent on it, but if I were to guess, I would say that Joseph had probably given up on ever finding freedom again. He remembered his father and little brother Benjamin with nostalgia and these were about the only memories that kept him warm at night in the cold Egyptian cells. Joseph was stuck!

However, this chance meeting with the king of Egypt transformed Joseph’s life instantaneously and eternally. Joseph, a non-Egyptian was now the vizier of Egypt. After years of slavery, imprisonment, demotion, and false accusation, Joseph was finally free to live out the dream God had placed in his heart years back. It had come at a cost, but God was finally ready to use him. Could it be that in those cells, God had taught him to forgive his brothers, to carry purpose with honor and not to mistreat his subjects?

For whatever reason it took so many years for his dream to become a reality, Joseph was definitely a changed man. In this story, the true test of transformation is a picture of grace, of Joseph cutting his brothers loose from an offense that would well have cost him his life. Sometimes the journey that God allows us to take can be similar to Joseph's. Even with a dream in our hearts and a sure confirmation that God is in our situations, we may find ourselves stuck, imprisoned, demoted, and forgotten.

You may be feeling like you have been dragged into the sea, swallowed and spat out by a large whale and washed out to shore? You may be asking God if He is done with you because you just do not see a way out. You have waited in prayer, fasted, and done all that you know to do, yet nothing!

Once in a long season of waiting, I was sleeping and saw the word “indelible” in a dream. It was clear to me that God was speaking. Indelible means “not able to be forgotten or removed.” The truth is, dear beloved, there is absolutely nothing that can separate you from His love. He has etched your name in the palm of His hand, therefore your life is ever before Him. Just like Joseph, you could be a prisoner in a cell, hopeless and forgotten, but in one moment, your life could change forever.

Be encouraged. You are indelible. You are not forgotten. You matter to God!