Stuck In A Moment...(sigh)

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream… "This is what it means," Joseph said to him…within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position…But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. For 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”… Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials…He restored the chief cupbearer to his position…just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation…The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. (Genesis 40:9, 12-15, 20-23)


Forgotten. Misplaced. Left alone.

It’s worse than any nightmare on Elm Street. It’s our greatest fears realized. It’s a living portrait of Hell. After all, the human soul was designed for connection and community, for purpose and passion. We were created to belong and when we find ourselves lost, alone or worse, forgotten,...well, it’s Hell on earth. Don't kid yourself. No one wants to be the last man on the planet.

One truly is a lonely number.

If there’s three words in the Bible that terrify me it’s the phrase about Joseph: “he forgot him.” In this episode where Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and his baker—and one is restored while the other hanged in three days—we find the only hint of Joseph’s desperation. He openly pleads with the cupbearer to “remember” him and “mention” him to Pharaoh. He argues for justice and states his case. “I have done nothing wrong to deserve” this fate, he notes. Mere words probably tell half the story. If you read between the lines you can also sense anger, bitterness, jealousy and hopelessness. Joseph was begging for mercy. He was trying to dig himself out. He was, to quote U2, stuck in a moment he couldn’t get out of.

The real tragedy is Joseph will be stuck another two years. For whatever reason, the joy of favorable parole by the cupbearer caused amnesia. He forgot Joseph. Like a toy no longer enjoyable or a tool no longer useful, Joseph was laid aside. Misplaced. Forgotten.

It happens all the time. Life is full of surprises, twists and ironies. Every now and then, we find ourselves alone, lost and feeling forgotten. It’s a moment even the Messiah couldn’t avoid when He cried from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).” Our deepest fears are to be left behind. Solitary confinement is called “the hole.” It’s where you live only with yourself. It’s used to break the will of a criminal or the silence of a POW. Life’s “holes” serve notice to break the human spirit. An unexpected death. Getting fired. A marriage dissolves. Bankruptcy. Cancer. A child rebels. A home burns to the ground. A company goes under. A dream dies.

Life’s holes are Hell. Lonely. Lost. Forgotten.

Thankfully, holes don’t have to be eternal. The valley with shadows of death can be navigated. We don't have to linger, pause or dwell in those dark moments. You may never understand them either. You may never rationalize why you’re in this hole. It is what it is. For some of us, we are given the holes as gifts to construct character, build blessing and hammer hope. For most people holes are circumstantial and consequential. It's life.

For Joseph, his hole had Divine Purpose. He was destined for the king's court and, as such, had no direct link to Pharaoh. He was an outsider. He was a nobody. He was a slave. It would take prison to free his full Purpose. His sentence would seed his Resurrection. Think about it. Without imprisonment Joseph would've never met the cupbearer (two totally different social circles for slaves). Furthermore, without an injustice Joseph might've forgotten the little guy, too. Joseph learns in the hole that everyone matters and that belief would save his family and all of Israel in the years ahead.

So if you're stuck in a hole, be thankful and even rejoice. Look up. Look out. Look around. Look forward. You are being shaped for a greater Purpose. You are not alone. That's a lie of the evil one. You have God. And with God, you are a majority. With God, you have hope. With God, all things work for good in time.

I know, I've dug a lot of holes and faced my share of life's sentences. But if I've learned anything it's that God really does care about the little guy.

And that's me...and I also bet that's you.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON HOPE:

"Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." (Arundhati Roy)

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." (Dale Carnegie)

"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow." (Dorothy Thompson)

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." (Martin Luther King)


Father, I confess that I hate the hole. I loathe being lonely. I'm fear being forgotten. I may never understand why I'm here, at this point in my life facing this moment, but I will stand confident that You will have the Final Word. If my hole is the consequence of my own selfish choices and poor decisions, I pray forgiveness and seek healing. However, if I'm here to learn, to grow, to sharpen or to gain deeper insight, I ask for patience and a persistent spirit. I will not give up on You. Jesus, thank You for revealing how to live in life's holes. Your Resurrection is my hope. No grave dug for me or by me will hold my spirit. Amen.