Suffering and Serving

The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. Genesis 40:4

Joseph ministered to others at the hardest time of his life. He served even when he suffered. The Bible mentions two of the people he served while in prison, the cupbearer and the baker.

“Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker” (40:2). These two men were trusted servants of the king, which was no small honor. They were men of rank, trusted to oversee other staff who would have served under them.

“He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined” (40:3). Joseph was in prison because of a great injustice, but these men were there for cause. They had committed an offense, while Joseph was innocent.

We are not told what their offense was, but we are told that it was against the king of Egypt. The king had trusted these men. He had given them positions of responsibility and they had betrayed the king’s trust. They had acted against the king they had been called to serve, and now Pharaoh was angry. Nothing provokes anger like trust betrayed.

These men were put in prison, where they found themselves in the company of Joseph. This leads to the heart of the story.

“One night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation” (40:5). God had something to say to these men through their dreams, and He arranged to put them in the same prison as Joseph, who noticed they were troubled. Had his eyes been on his own suffering, he would not have been able to see theirs.

Are you allowing your suffering to keep you from serving others?