Each of us are given gifts from God. When we discover these gems, we are able to use the gifts as a conduit of God’s blessing to this world.  Have you pondered what gifts God has granted you?  Joseph learned early in life that his gift was understanding and interpreting dreams.  He doesn’t brag about it; instead, he uses this gift as a way of being his true self.

We left Joseph in the jail, yet his story expands beyond.  He begins interpreting dreams of fellow prisoners which seem to not make much of a difference for Joseph (Gen 40).   It is a full two years before Joseph’s blessing to the inmates comes back to open a new future.  Read Genesis 41:1-32.  What strikes you about this interchange?

Joseph doesn’t take credit for his ability to interpret dreams (vs 16).  Instead, he shares that it is God who enables understanding.  Joseph, the beloved son, the enslaved man, the falsely accused and incarcerated soul, has now become the great interpreter of dreams to the most powerful man in the world.  Through this, Joseph never says a negative thing.  Never once is he the victim.  He seems to embrace the moment, no matter how bad that moment is.  Most importantly, he stays true to himself and the gift God gives him.

Through his interpretation, he gains the trust of Pharaoh and rises from the obscurity of a prison cell to the right-hand man of the most powerful among them.  Pharaoh’s own words reveal the perception of Joseph—Can we find a man with more God-given gifts than this one?  When we live into our truest self, the self that God created at our core, we live into the mission and purpose of our lives.  Our gifts are a blessing to be shared, never hoarded.  Joseph is going to have to deal with the scars of his past, and determine his response to the dysfunctional love of family—will he bless, or will he get even?