Garry spoke this morning from Gen 40:1-23, continuing his series on the life of Joseph. This focuses on the time when Joseph was in prison and interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer and the royal baker. His interpretations proved correct, but the cupbearer, who was restored to his royal position, did not remember Joseph. We can imagine Joseph continuing to linger in prison and wonder how he reacted to this – with disappointment and even discouragement, perhaps, but what is clear is that there was no room for bitterness in his response.
Bitterness is an understandable and often predictable response to hardship (think of the Israelite slaves under the Egyptians in Ex 1:14 or Naomi on the loss of her husband and two sons in Ruth 1:19-21). The steady drip of misfortune often erodes faith and leaves us with bitterness. Joseph had plenty of reasons to be bitter, having been betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused, wrongly imprisoned and now forgotten, but his lack of bitterness is one of the most remarkable things about his life. Bitterness is often likened to a poisonous plant (see Deut 29:18) and seeps through into every area of life, touching, influencing and contaminating everything. Heb 12:15 reminds us not to allow any bitter root to grow up as this will cause trouble and defile many. God’s grace must be allowed to permeate through into every area of our lives.
It is our choice to be bitter; Eph 4:31 urges us to get rid of all bitterness. If we do this, like Joseph, we leave room for God to work in our lives. We can only do this as we live with an eternal perspective. There is much in life we cannot control or influence, but we need to spend time with God so that He can speak into our lives. God was foremost in Joseph’s thoughts; he could leave his everyday situation (even in prison) with Him. He suffered much, but he let go of his pain and focussed on God, the result being God’s blessing on him and the fulfilment of God’s plan for his life. We are to give no room to bitterness but to give room to God.
