Traveling
by bus from Memphis, Tennessee, to St. Louis, Missouri, typically takes about 6
hours—unless the bus driver leaves you stranded at a gas station. This happened
to 45 passengers aboard a bus who waited 8 hours overnight for a replacement
driver after the original driver abandoned them. They must have felt frustrated
by the delay, anxious about the outcome, and impatient for rescue.
Joseph
probably shared those feelings when he landed in prison for a crime he didn’t
commit (Gen. 39). Abandoned and forgotten by any human who might help him, he
was stranded. Still, “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He
gave him favor” (v.21). Eventually, the prison warden promoted Joseph to
oversee fellow inmates, and whatever Joseph did, “the Lord made it prosper”
(v.23). But despite God’s presence and blessing, Joseph remained incarcerated
for years.
You may
be stranded in a hospital room, a jail cell, a country far from home, or your
own inner prison. No matter where you are, or how long you’ve been there, God’s
mercy and kindness can reach you. Because He is God Almighty (Ex. 6:3) and
present everywhere (Jer. 23:23-24), He can protect, promote, and provide for
you when it seems no one else can help.
God is
present—even when we feel He is absent. (RBC)
