Our God is sovereign, continued

Didya find time to read Genesis 41? Wasn't it amazing? Even if we do know the end of the story, if we read and try to imagine what Joseph felt as he lived it, it is truly inspiring to read this....

It's been two long years. Joseph has faithfully carried out his tasks as the chief scribe at the prison. He boldly asked the cupbearer to "go to bat" for him with the Pharaoh....but the cupbearer forgot all about him. I bet he promised with all his heart that he would help Joseph. But the Bible says that he got out of prison, went back to his duties in the palace, and forgot Joseph.
I bet that every day in prison was pretty dull and boring. Maybe Joseph asked himself "why?" Why did all of this happen to him? Every time it seemed he was getting ahead, he got pushed back down.  All of us have moments like that....
Sometimes what goes on in the lives of people around us, or in our own lives, for that matter, seems to make very little sense. Why does one person get cancer and another is spared? Or why does one person get into remission, and another keeps having to fight with chemo and other medicines? Why does one family have eight kids, and another couple can't have one? Why is one family hit with what seems to be an endless succession of trials? Why does one person get passed over, and the other get promoted?
And to add insult to injury (at least the way we humans see it), sometimes the people on the "good" end of these equations are not "good" peeps.... sometimes the believers are the ones that are hardest hit, and the unbelievers skate by, and seem to be unscathed.
I sometimes read the sermons of John Piper to supplement my study times; in one of them he says, "Every day, God is doing perhaps 10,000 different things in your life, but you will only be dimly aware of perhaps three of those things." It's true. As human beings, we barely get glimpses of all that God is doing in our lives. Kinda like looking through a keyhole, or a peephole in today's doors....at best, we can only see a little of what lies on the other side of the door. But we often mistake that sliver for the whole of reality.
Joseph is about to discover that these years in prison were not wasted....

One night, Pharaoh had two really weird dreams! The first dream was seeing seven fat cows come up out of the Nile, but then seeing seven emaciated ones come up from the river and gobble up the fat ones. I expect that he was pretty confused by that, but he went back to sleep and dreamed again. This time he saw a stalk with seven plump heads of grain on it, that was suddenly chomped up by seven shriveled up heads of grain. Don't you imagine he was bewildered? Yup, he was!

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. (Genesis 41:8)

Pharaoh may have been the most powerful man on earth at that time, but he had no clue what his dream was about. In today's world, we see people with money and power, and lots of success and notoriety, but they have no clue about spiritual things. Remember what Paul tells us?

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (I Corinthians 2:14)

Just at that moment, the cupbearer remembers Joseph!

Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them 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 impaled.” (Genesis 41:12-13)

What an awesome example of the providence and planning of our God! If the cupbearer had remembered earlier, perhaps Joseph might have been free earlier.... then maybe he wouldn't have been anywhere near the palace, when the Pharaoh had his dreams. So Joseph was faithful to his tasks, and God nudged the cupbearer to tell his employer about Joseph.
So, Joseph gets cleaned up and soon is standing before the Pharaoh. Pretty amazing!

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:15-16)

Again, as when he interpreted the cupbearer and the baker's dreams, Joseph gives the glory to his God. He doesn't take any credit for it.
"Pharaoh, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" (Just kidding)  Joseph tells Pharaoh that there will be seven years of plenty. The rains will be plentiful, and the crops will be huge -- everybody will have plenty to eat. But then there will be seven years of terrible famine. And he tells the leader that he better take this seriously, because he dreamed the same thing twice.... in other words, God thinks this is important!

The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon. (Genesis 41:32)

Joseph goes on to suggest that Pharaoh needs a wise and discerning man to be the administrator of the economy while the seven good years are ongoing. If one-fifth of the huge harvests is socked away in barns and warehouses, then there will be food for the people during the seven bad years.
Yep, it's a good plan.
It's a simple plan.
But it won't be successful unless the Pharaoh can find a man who is gifted in executive skills, loyal to his employer, and has integrity in all his dealings. Pharaoh must choose carefully.....

Who will he choose?