“But the Lord was with Joseph in prison and showed him his faithful love.”
(Genesis 39:21)

I have never been to prison. I have no intention of living there. But, I do know of people who have been in prison and what they describe is intense loneliness, isolation, a feeling of claustrophobia and a great fear for their lives. Hopeless and helpless.

Joseph must have felt many of these emotions, and others, when he was falsely imprisoned (Genesis 39). He was simply in the right place at the wrong time. He did nothing wrong. Sometimes there are God-ordained moments and then are God-allowed moments. Depending upon the situation neither one of them make a lot of sense. Why God? How God? These questions and more go through our minds. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we created, situations others created or situations that had many hands create. Regardless of HOW you got there just know the WHO that is there with you. “The Lord was with Joseph” and he will also be with you.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We may not find ourselves in prison but we will often find ourselves in basements. These are the places in our lives where we feel lost, alone, hidden, forgotten, and we wonder if God can even hear or see us. It feels like our prayers are going no higher than the basement ceiling. But, the Lord sees us and hears us. He doesn’t see things from the basement but rather from an upstairs view.

I was in a very dark and lonely place in my life once. Actually, I’ve been there a few times but this one in particular was the hardest. For a few months, during a transitional phase of my life, I was taken in by a wonderful Christian couple who lived in a quiet, somewhat secluded rustic home in the woods. The house sits about 75 yards off of the gravel road which is a few miles off of the main road. It was in the basement of this home where I laid my weary head and cried myself to sleep every night for a few months. I had a bed and a half bathroom, a few chairs, a TV with a DVD player and sliding glass doors that covered one side of the four walls and no curtains. The room had the old rustic looking wood paneling, stacks of firewood on the porch just outside the sliding glass doors, a wood stove that still gave off the scent of fall even during the summer and a wonderful Collie by the name of Bubba.

I would fall asleep to the sound of the trees speaking through the gentle wind and when I cracked the sliding glass door the air would gently flow through the screen onto my bed. Thunder and lightening would serve as my white noise and nightlight in the midst of the darkness of the woods and when it rained the creek located down the hill about 50 yards away from the home would bubble over creating a continuous trickle in my ears. It was peaceful but the silence was also madness!

We don’t really know how long Joseph was in prison. Scholars will vary from a few years to a decade. But, does it really matter? It must have been lonely for Joseph at night. He was separated from his family. He was falsely accused and put into prison and one of the “friends” that got out before he did said he would speak to Pharaoh on Josephs’ behalf and forgot. It would be another two years after that conversation when the “friend” would remember Joseph. But, the “Lord was with Joseph.”

Timing. It’s always God’s timing. Joseph was never far from God. In fact, it was during his prison experience that I believe he grew closer to the Lord and just as Jesus did, Joseph also grew in wisdom and stature. At the age of 17 God gave Joseph a vision. At the age of 30 the prison doors opened and Joseph became SECOND in command of all of Egypt. Only Pharaoh had more power than Joseph. “The Lord was with Joseph.”

I would wake up at 5:30 each morning and by 6:00am I was dressed and made my way down the wooden steps that meandered through the woods to a deck that overlooked the creek. I would stand at the edge of that deck and wait for the sun to see me through the trees. I cried out to God, sometimes in words, sometimes in praise, but mostly in groaning. I ached. I hurt. It didn’t matter if this was God ordained or God allowed; the Lord was with me. The basement was a necessary season for me; the prison was a necessary season for Joseph. Both places are dark and even though Joseph and I were not alone we still felt lonely. The nights are always the worst but it’s in the basements of our lives where God brings hope in the dark. He is the only one who will never leave us or forsake us. His eye is always on the sparrow. I may never be second in command of anything but I have a journal filled with God moments that would have never been written had it not been for the basement. I wish that season never happened; but it did and God was with me. The Lord is also with you in your basement season. He sees you and you are not alone. One day, the doors will fly open and you’ll look back and thank Him for turning what the enemy meant for evil into something really good.

I wonder if Joseph ever went back and just sat in his cell? It’s been a long time since I lived in that basement but that experience still lives in me. I visit this family often and when I do I visit the basement…and I remember the faithfulness of God.