…for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1 Samuel 2:30b)
We often have an easier time believing that God can work in us than believing He can work in the lives of those for whom we are concerned. We need to realize that God works on both ends. While Joseph was in prison, his God was working on his behalf in the place of Pharaoh. (You can read the account in Genesis 41:1-14.)
The Bible says in verse one that Pharaoh dreamed a dream at the end of two full years. Two whole years had passed since Joseph had been falsely accused and placed in the king’s prison. While there, he met Pharaoh’s butler and baker. God enabled Joseph to interpret their dreams. The butler promised to remember Joseph, but after two years, it seemed as if the butler had forgotten all about him.
No doubt God worked in Joseph’s heart during this time of loneliness. He had to trust God and find comfort in Him. However, it is important to remember that God also worked on the other end.
God Deserves to Be Honored
In this account, we learn that God deserves to be honored. God’s Word says in 1 Samuel 2:30b, “…them that honour me I will honour…” Even when Joseph was in prison, he was true to the Lord and honored his God. Everything seemed to have gone wrong, but Joseph realized that the Lord deserves to be honored.
When we think about God and all that He is, He certainly deserves to be honored. He is eternal, Almighty, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is not only here with us, but also everywhere at the same time. If this is true, and if God can work here on our end, He can also work on the other end.
If we honor God, He will honor us. Our confidence must not be in ourselves but in the secret place of our lives where we have chosen to honor God and believe He will keep His Word.
God Speaks to Men
As we look at this account, we realize also that God speaks to men. Notice what the Bible says in Hebrews 1:1-2a: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…” God spoke through the prophets, and our true and living God still speaks today. The Word of God also teaches this truth in Isaiah 45:18-23.
God speaks through His Word, His Spirit, other Christians, and through circumstances. Through a dream, God stirred Pharaoh and prodded the memory of the butler. God spoke to those men and dealt with them. Joseph was called from prison into the royal court of Pharaoh.
A believer can get on his knees and talk to God about someone, and God can speak to that person on the other end. Millions have come to the Lord because someone on this end prayed, and God worked on the other end to bring them to Christ. God speaks to us, and He will speak to others. He works on the other end.
God Does What Is Right at the Right Time
We see from the life of Joseph that God does what is right at the right time. When Pharaoh had a burden and his heart was troubled, then God worked on the memory of the butler to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. God brought Joseph forth at just the right time and made him ruler over all of Egypt.
We spend much of our lives trying to get things from God before we are ready to receive them. We must believe that God will do right in His time. Just think what God can do when He is ready to do it.
Isaiah 30:18 says, “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” Read that again, slowly and thoughtfully.
The time was perfect, and the need was great in the land of Egypt. God had diligently prepared a man to meet the need, and God raised him up from prison and made him as Pharaoh in Egypt. All this was accomplished because God works on the other end.