It Is Not in Me — TDW Kids

Forgotten, but Not by God

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Joseph helped the butler, explained his dream, and asked one small thing: “Remember me when it is well with you” (Genesis 40:14). Then the Bible says, “Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (40:23).

Two full years. Joseph waited “two full years” (41:1). Every day he probably wondered whether today would be the day. It wasn't. Have you ever waited for something and wondered whether anyone remembered you?

What Joseph had done. Joseph had done nothing wrong to the butler. He had cared for him, explained his dream truthfully and given him hope. The butler's forgetting was not a punishment for anything Joseph did. Sometimes people let us down even when we have been kind to them.

People forget. Friends forget birthdays. Adults forget promises. Sometimes we are the ones who forget. People are not perfect, and they will sometimes let us down.

God does not forget. God spoke to His people through Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her nursing child…? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16). God has your name written on His hands.

God was working in the waiting. Psalm 105 says that during those years, “the word of the LORD tested him.” Then, “The king sent and released him… He made him lord of his house” (Psalm 105:19-21). The waiting was not wasted. God was preparing Joseph, and preparing the moment.

Perfect timing. If the butler had remembered sooner, Joseph might have been freed and gone home. Instead, he was still in Egypt exactly when Pharaoh needed him. God's timing was better than Joseph's.

How to wait. “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (Psalm 27:14). “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him… It is good that one should hope and wait quietly” (Lamentations 3:25-26).

Joseph was honest. Joseph did not pretend everything was fine. He told the butler, “I was stolen away… and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon” (40:15). It is right to tell God, and trusted people, when we are hurting.

Joseph kept serving. While he waited, Joseph kept looking after the prisoners. He noticed when people were sad. Waiting did not stop him from doing good. “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love” (Hebrews 6:10).

What it means for you. When you feel forgotten, tell God honestly. Keep doing good where you are, as Joseph did. And trust that God has not forgotten you for a single moment. “My times are in Your hand” (Psalm 31:15).

Genesis 40:23 and 41:1 are the darkest point in Joseph's story. The man who could have helped him forgot him, and two full years went by.

Forgotten. “Did not remember… but forgot” says the same thing two ways to make it strong. Joseph's hope rested on a human promise, and that promise failed completely.

God remembers. Earlier in Genesis, God remembered Noah (8:1), Abraham (19:29) and Rachel (30:22), and each time He acted for them. God was remembering Joseph too, and we see it in the perfect timing of Pharaoh's dreams.

Isaiah 49:15-16. God gave this promise to His people when they felt abandoned: “Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.” He says their names are “inscribed… on the palms of My hands.” His love for His people is personal, and it never lets go.

Testing. Psalm 105:19 says that during the wait “the word of the LORD” tested Joseph. That may mean the word of his own dreams, which had not come true yet. When God tests His children, He is making them stronger, not destroying them (James 1:2-4).

Perfect timing. Because of the delay, Joseph was ready to explain Pharaoh's dreams at exactly the right moment. God works even through delay and disappointment for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Waiting as faith. Psalm 27:14 and Lamentations 3:25-26 call us to wait on the Lord. That kind of waiting is not giving up. It is active, hopeful trust that keeps praying and keeps obeying while God works.

Lament and trust. Joseph's plea in 40:14-15 is an honest statement that he was treated unfairly, and a request for help. God does not count that as unbelief. The Psalms are full of honest cries like it (Psalm 13; 22).

Faithful when no one sees. Hebrews 6:10 promises that God “is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love.” Joseph's quiet service in prison mattered to God long before it mattered to Pharaoh. If you feel unnoticed while you try to do right, God sees all of it.

The butler's memory. When the butler finally remembered (41:9), it helped his own standing with Pharaoh, and he called Joseph only “a young Hebrew man… a servant” (41:12). People remember partly, and often for their own sake. God remembers completely and faithfully.

Times in God's hand. Psalm 31:15 says, “My times are in Your hand.” The timing of our rescue is never random, and it is not ours to control. It belongs to a Father who loves us.

Go to Joseph, Come to Jesus

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When the famine came, “the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do’” (Genesis 41:55). Joseph had the grain. Everyone had to go to him.

Humble first. Before Joseph was lifted up, he said, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (41:16). He did not grab for glory. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

Lifted up. Then God lifted him up: from the dungeon to the second chariot, with people crying, “Bow the knee!” (41:43). The dreams of his teenage years were starting to come true.

A picture of Jesus. Christians have long seen in Joseph a picture of Jesus. Jesus went lower than Joseph ever did: He “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” And God lifted Him higher than Joseph ever went: “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:8-10).

Bread for the world. “All countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain” (41:57). Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6:35). Joseph's grain kept people alive for a while. Jesus gives life that lasts forever: “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51).

Using gifts well. Joseph's gift was understanding dreams and making wise plans. Yours might be kindness, music, sports, schoolwork, making people laugh or helping. All of them come from God. Use them to help other people, the way Joseph used his to feed a hungry world.

The only place to go. In the famine, there was only one storehouse that could help. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Joseph's family is coming. At the end of chapter 41, all countries are coming to Egypt for grain. Soon Joseph's own brothers will come, and they will bow before him, just as the dream said. But Joseph will use his power to save them, not to punish them. That is the next part of the story, and it shows us what Jesus does with His power too.

What it means for you. Be humble like Joseph, and give God the credit for your gifts. And come to Jesus, the true bread of life. Bow your knee to Him now, gladly, as your King.

Genesis 41:37-57 tells how God lifted Joseph up and how the whole world came to depend on him.

Humility and exaltation. Joseph's disclaimer (41:16) precedes his elevation (41:39-44). Scripture repeatedly links the two: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10); “He puts down one, and exalts another” (Psalm 75:7).

Joseph and Jesus. Joseph was rejected, suffered, was lifted up, and then saved many lives. Because of that, many Christians see Joseph as a picture of Christ. Philippians 2:5-11 shows the same path in Jesus: He humbled Himself all the way to the cross, God lifted Him up, and every knee will one day bow to Him.

“Bow the knee.” The Hebrew word avrekh (41:43) is hard to translate, and the NKJV renders it “Bow the knee!” It brings to mind Philippians 2:10, “every knee should bow.” People bowed to Joseph for a short time in Egypt. All creation will bow to Jesus forever.

Bread for the nations. “All countries came to Joseph” (41:57) points ahead to the gospel going to every nation (Luke 24:47). In John 6:35 and 6:51 Jesus says He is the bread that gives eternal life “for the life of the world,” and He gave that life by giving Himself on the cross.

Only one name. Pharaoh said, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do” (41:55). Years later at Cana, Mary told the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5). Acts 4:12 says it plainly: salvation is found in no other name but Jesus.

What this means for you. Be humble about your gifts, because God gave them to you. And trust Christ alone as the true source of life.

Joseph's new identity. Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name and an Egyptian wife (41:45), yet the names of his sons show that he stayed faithful to the God of his fathers (41:51-52). God's people are still called to live faithfully in a culture that is not their true home (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Power used for others. Joseph used his authority to serve. He gathered, stored and handed out food so others could live. Jesus said worldly rulers “lord it over” people, but the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45). Joseph's way of ruling is a small picture of Jesus, the Servant King.

Fruitful in hard places. Ephraim's name means “God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:52). Joseph never forgot that Egypt was where he had suffered. But he praised God for making it the place where he became fruitful too.

God's provision. Joseph stored a fifth of the harvest and later sold the grain to all who came. Through one faithful servant, God provided for the world, just as He provides for us through Jesus.

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