We live in a very impatient society. With free two-day shipping and instant streaming, we have a hard time waiting for anything. If there’s anything that knows a thing about waiting, it was Joseph.

Joseph was a special child. He was the baby of the family and apparently his father’s favorite. He loved to tattle on his his brothers. His problems all started with a dream. Joseph had a dream that basically said that all of his brothers would bow down to him and serve him. Needless to say, his brothers didn’t love hearing that they would be subject to baby Joseph, so they conspired to sell him to a group of slave traders and convince their father that he had been killed by a wild animal.

Joseph ends up in Egypt, the servant of Potiphar, a welthy Egyptian. While there, he gains favor with Potiphar, so much so that he becomes the head of the household, having access to everything except Potiphar’s own wife. Joseph becomes very successful in his role, but then temptation comes. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph. Joseph resists, like the pure soul he is, but he still gets in trouble. Potiphar’s wife accuses him of trying to seduce her, and Joseph gets thrown into prison.

How many times does that happen to us? We try to do the right thing, the good thing, and we get punished somehow anyway. How do we respond? I usually pout and pitch a fit like a child, complaining to God that it’s not fair.

So Joseph gets sent to prison, and he’s there for “some time” as Genesis puts it. Again, Joseph gains favor with the guards in the prison. Eventaully, the king’s cupbearer and baker are thrown into the prison. They both have dreams that Joseph interprets for them. The cupbearer is restored to his former position, and Joseph’s only request as thanks is that the cupbearer remembers him when he is restored. It doesn’t happen, and it’s not until two years later that the cupbearer remembers Joseph after Pharoah has some weird dreams.

Again, I’m probably crying and complaining to God.

The cupbearer finally remembers about Joseph and tells Pharoah. Pharoah brings Joseph in, and Joseph interprets the dreams for him. There’s a famine on the way, and Joseph is the one who delivers the news to Pharoah. Because of this, Joseph is raised to the most powerful position in Egypt, just under Pharoah himself, and is put in charge of maintaining all of the agricultural production. And because of all of this, Egypt is able to prepare for seven years of severe famine. There’s no telling how many people did not starve to death because of Joseph.

Joseph had to endure several years of seeming silence before he saw a payoff. He stayed faithful, though. He could have easily given up at any point. Personally, I doubt I would have made it out of the pit, and I certainly wouldn’t have made it out of Potiphar’s house. We don’t always get to see the immediate results of our actions, but just because we don’t see the results right away, it doesn’t mean that we should give up. Stay faithful and continue on.