Working Thru Bondage

Now I know y'all....I know you're probably looking at this title like


Yes, y'all BONDAGE. Your eyes aint fooling you. Here's the thing...As people, we get caught up in so much. The Bible says our days are few and full of trouble. That trouble could be anything, and to be honest, that trouble can include bondage. 

Over the last couple of days, I've learned that God allows us to experience certain things to see if we're truly committed to Him. This has happened numerous times in the Bible. God has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us, but what are we willing to do that for Him? If He places you in an uncomfortable place will you stay until He releases you?

God took me back to my boy Joseph.

Genesis 40:1-7 The Message (MSG)

40 1-4 As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker, and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held. The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs.

4-7 After they had been in custody for a while, the king’s cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low. So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, “What’s wrong? Why the long faces?”

By the time we get to this part of the story, Joseph has been thrown into jail because of something this throat drier than the Sahara of a woman that was out here lying in these streets, chile. 


But anyway....by the time this happened, Joseph had every right to be upset. He saw what God was doing in his life, and the journey has gone left not once but twice! He's literally been in bondage, freed, and then put back in bondage. That alone would've played all kind of mental games for me. I can guarantee Joseph had no idea his brothers were going to sell him into slavery, but what I can guarantee is that he got his hopes up when he got out of slavery. 

Think about it. He's in this place of bondage, and he's worked his way out. When things start to get better, you begin to think you're getting your life back on the right track. You got your confidence is coming back up because God is coming through just like you knew He would. And then BOOM you get knocked 10 steps back. But Joseph didn't. The Bible instructs us:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 The Message (MSG)

16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

That's what it's about. What will you do while you're in that bondage. It doesn't matter if it's mental, physical, or spiritual--BE CHEERFUL. This is a hard lesson for me too. I'm the type to quit my job if the environment ain't right. I did it at my last job, and I'm hanging onto my current job by a thread because of the same reason. I get impatient. I'm just going to be honest. I would quit a job before God makes an exit plan for me. I wouldn't be cheerful. I would go because I had to be there, and my attitude would be like 

It just wasn't of God. I wasn't showing the light that is Jesus. 

Genesis 40:8-19 The Message (MSG)

8 They said, “We dreamed dreams and there’s no one to interpret them.”

Joseph said, “Don’t interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams.”

9-11 First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes. I was holding Pharaoh’s cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh.”

12-15 Joseph said, “Here’s the meaning. The three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you’ll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place. I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I’ve been here, I’ve done nothing to deserve being put in this hole.”

16-17 When the head baker saw how well Joseph’s interpretation turned out, he spoke up: “My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head.”

18-19 Joseph said, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean.”

But see, Joseph...he was doing the work of God while in his hard place. God gave him the gift of dream interpretation. Regardless of whatever he had going on, he still did the work. It didn't matter where he was. He knew where God was taking him.

Sometimes we let our current situation determine what we do. I know it's hard to see past that, but we have to open our eyes. In these situations, we tend to talk ourselves out of what God wants of us because of our own imperfections, but work through that. You never know what's on the other side.