HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly today? Genesis 40:7
We may learn from Joseph the true method of bearing grief. Joseph might have become moody and sullen, absorbed in his own misfortunes, and pessimistic about the course of human life. How far removed from all this was his behaviour! So many times we are shifted into another position because of folks around us or from the same household. Many times it is a simple factor that drives the situation like jealousy or hatred. But if we steer the course carefully it is a divine way that God is leading.
He filled his time with the ministry. The captain of the guard charged him with two state-prisoners, and he ministered unto them. A new interest came into his life, and he almost forgot the heavy pressure of his own troubles amid the interest of listening to the tales of those who were more unfortunate than himself. Do not nurse your grief in lonely brooding: arise and minister to someone; do something in the world; exert yourself to alleviate the sufferings of those close by your side, who have not so clear a conscience or so bright a trust in God. Every situation had an outcome. It may look like it is darkness in the tunnel, but there is some form of light at the end.
He was quick to sympathize and comfort. Quick to notice traces of sorrow, because he had sorrowed; able to sympathize, because he had wept; adept at comforting, because he had been comforted of God. We gain comfort when we attempt to comfort. Out of such intercourse, we get what Joseph got – the key which will unlock the heavy doors by which we have been shut-in. Light a fire in another’s heart, and your own heart will be warmed. Sometimes it takes a bad situation to show us the reality of the journey we are on. Keep taking comfort in the strength of God’s word, “Though He slays me yet will I trust Him”.
He kept his faith in God. Depression, captivity, loneliness, separation from those he loved, could not quench his faith in God. Still, God was near and precious to him. The stifling darkness and oppression of the prison were irksome to the free child of the camp, but God was as near as in Jacob’s tent. There is no evil to them that love God, and the believer loses sight of second causes in the contemplation of the unfolding of the mystery of his Father’s will.
How many of you have been in a similar situation? Hope many of you felt like giving up? How many of you felt hopeless in some situation where all seemed lost? How many felt betrayed and abandoned? I have good news for you today, That there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and He is not far away. Trust your God for everything and that He will bring you out of every bad situation.
