I was talking to my girlfriend the other evening, the way I do most evenings now. Most evenings, because she is married now, lol, so our gist has to fit around her new schedule.
Somewhere in that conversation, I said something I haven’t been able to shake since:
I would love to know what was on the mind of the One who sat down to write how each of our lives would play out.
I mean it. How do you sit down and write that someone will be born a slave, and in the in-between, with so many surprises and so many turns, that same person ends up a king? Who thinks like that?
Let’s look at Joseph. If you know the story, stay with me. If you don’t, let me tell you.
A boy is born into a well-to-do home. He has brothers and a sister. His father loves him so much, and his father was practically a chief. God takes an interest in him and gives him the gift of dreams, and shows him, on more than one occasion, that one day his brothers will bow before him. For those who don’t know, this boy was nearly the baby of the house ooo. Second to the last out of twelve. Na last born himself nao.
Then boom.
The brothers plan to kill him. In the end they sell him to strangers, people they don’t know, heading to a land none of them has ever seen. And then they walk back home and carry on as if nothing happened.
And there is our star boy, a slave in another man’s land. I choose to believe Potiphar bought him because of his good build and his great skincare routine. Ehen. Na condition make crayfish bend, abeg. His father was practically a chief, but see where condition placed him.
Then, in a turn of events, he moved from Potiphar’s house to prison. And let’s not forget what landed him there. In that prison, he interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker. It was dreams that got him into trouble in the first place, and now dreams are working for him. Then boom again: Pharaoh himself has a dream, and guess who is able to interpret it?
Our slave. Our prisoner. Our star boy Joseph. And just like that, he is second in command to Pharaoh.
Like… who sat down to write this kind of story?
I imagine the Writer saying, let’s add this plot. Let’s take him on an adventure. Let’s confuse the enemy. Let’s confuse his stalkers. I’m sure that at some point, the ones assigned to monitor his matter gave up. What exactly is going on with this one? Joseph no get direction at all.
I started writing this post to share the story of one of our readers who volunteered to have her story told here. And in a sudden turn of events, as I write, I am being reminded of my own journey. Tears are rolling down my face as I type.
The last time I shared my journey, I told you I had quit it all. Would you believe me if I told you I have resumed a new role? In a new industry entirely, one I never saw coming.
My life has had so many turns and steps and roundabouts that even I am tired of stalking me.
So I need to ask. Moulder of my life, Writer of my story, what is on Your mind? As tears flow freely, I say it anyway: I trust You. My chest hurts. It is heavy. Because, Lord, my life cannot have this many turns and not be beautiful.
Look at Joseph’s own story. Every time it looks like he is moving forward, the next thing is a step back. From the pit, he rises to Potiphar’s house. He is just beginning to relax when his master’s wife decides to let the devil use her. Or maybe it wasn’t even the devil. As I see it now, maybe it was part of the script. And boom, he is in prison, the very bottom of the rock. And what comes next? The palace.
The same hand that allowed the pit is the hand that brought him to the palace.
My chest is doing gbimgbim, my dear reader; this revelation is landing as I write. Jesus!
Do not compromise the laws of God. That is what took Joseph to the next stage. It didn’t look like it. How can prison be the next stage? But guess what? Surprise! The prison was exactly where he needed to be, for doing the right thing. He stayed faithful when Potiphar’s wife pushed him, and he asked, How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Take note: he didn’t refuse because he was afraid of what people would say. He refused because of God. Don’t avoid sin because of people. Avoid it because of Him.
Joseph went to prison on a false accusation. He was offered a one-time intimacy with the wife of a chief(let’s assume that was Potiphar’s post). And years down the line, he was married to the daughter of the king in the palace.
If you are in your pit today, or in Potiphar’s house, or in your prison, this is not your final address. The Writer is not finished.
This is what is laid in my heart to end with:
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