I mean, how sad could they have been
for Joseph to notice? It was prison after all!
You were sent to this place,
either because you were indeed guilty or presumed guilty.
All sorts of crimes could land you in Egypt’s gulag –
real crimes and false claims.
Ask Joseph, he would tell you!
Getting Pharaoh’s officials offended was enough
to land you in the place, let alone Pharaoh himself.
Joseph in his prison administrative duties had
two formerly elevated men in his care.
One morning Joseph came to their quarters
and observed that they were dejected.
I mean, this is prison!
How happy or satisfied were they in the first place?
Yes, Joseph would have ensured that they were fed,
got their exercise in the fresh air, maybe he had even seen to it
that the daily Egyptian Tribune
was delivered direct to their cell rooms,
it was comfortable as prisons go, but it was still prison.
Their freedom was heavily curtailed.
“This is a different kind of sadness” Joseph must have mused.
“Why are your faces so sad today?” he asked
And so, began that life – altering, sentence – shifting – encounter for Joseph
but It started with him observing that something was out place.
How well do you see the people around you?
How well do you perceive the difference in the ordinary?
Can you see a different kind of sadness in someone who
already has a bag full of painful experiences?
God does and He wants us to be like Him.
Hagar running away from the mistreatment of Sarai,
her mistress and master saw her as expendable
but that life choice wasn’t hers.
Encountering the God in the wilderness,
Hagar declares “You are a God who sees. I have seen the One who sees me.”
El – Roi
God sees and He acts
He wants us also to be a people
who see and therefore act –
What will you do about what you notice today?
Thanks for reading.
Emi x
*This story is part of Hagar’s story and Joseph’s story taken from Genesis 16: 1-14 and 40:1-8.
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