1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” 9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.” 12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” 16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.” 20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand— 22 but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation. 23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Genesis 40:1-23 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.40.1-23.NIV.
Isn’t it amazing how we downplay some circumstances as coincidental yet God seems to be at work through them? Such was the scenario here. Joseph, had been a prisoner under the custody of the captain of the guard. His situation could have been very depressing for any one of us. But his attitude seemed out of touch with his circumstances and God was with him showering him with favour in the eyes of his captors. I’ve had an opportunity of being held in a police cell in Kenya on a case of mistaken identity and I can attest that I did not sleep that night but kept engaging in wild imagination about my fate if no one came to my rescue. But this wasn’t Joseph. So here he was in prison when two other guests of the state (or kingdom) are brought to that same prison. Both were Pharaoh’s servants. One was a baker while the other a cup bearer. Joseph was given responsibility over them. He took his responsibility towards them so seriously that he even noticed that they were disturbed one morning. Both had dreams which shook them out of their comfort. Upon disclosing their dreams to Joseph, they each received an interpretation. In fact in verse 8, Joseph was so confident that he would interpret their dreams because God would reveal the interpretation to him. Mysteries of God are revealed to those who choose to walk hand in hand with Him. There’s an amazing similarity between the life of Joseph of Genesis and Daniel. Their lives seemed impeccable before God. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t fail as humans. However scripture recounts a unique commitment they had to their God in the midst of adversity. They showed loyalty to God even when situations dictated that they do otherwise. Isn’t it a surprise that God revealed to them great mysteries? Isn’t it a surprise that God revealed to them interpretations to very complex visions and dreams? God can choose to use anyone for His purposes. However those who’s hearts are always loyal towards Him are prime candidates of revelation of great mysteries from Him. Jeremiah 33:3 says, ” Call unto Me and I will answer you. And I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know “. There are many mysterious things that happen in our world today. God is looking for those who’ll be faithful to Him to reveal to them before hand. In my imagination, what was to happen to the two servants of Pharaoh would have made headlines if there were newspapers in those days. God can choose to reveal ground shaking mysteries to those who’re faithful to Him even in this age. He can choose to reveal headline making events before hand to those who’re loyal to Him. But as the chapter draws to a close, we take notice of a broken promise by the chief cup bearer of Pharaoh. Probably the excitement of the moment made him forget what he had agreed to do. However we do not see Joseph’s spirit being dampened by this. God had put him in that specific position to be used by Him to minister to others. In fact, the joy that radiated through him would just be the tool God would use to reach out to others. At times I feel that I take long to notice how God can use my internal joy in Him to change situations around me. Joseph never sulked (though he had all the right to), he never withdrew himself from others (though he could have done it), instead he chose to let his inner joy and satisfaction in God uplift situations around him and God used him in the process. In our society plagued by all sorts of calamities and problems can we become agents of God’s love to others? Yes we might be going through a rough patch. However, joy in God is a choice and cannot be challenged by external circumstances. If we choose to rejoice in Him, He can use us to change the realities of others around us. That way, they’ll know that there is a God in heaven.
LIFE SCRIPTS 
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