image by agricorner.com
for a far away land.
By his own jealous brothers,
who justified their plan.
Poor Jacob, he mourned,
at the loss of his son.
Good thing he knew not
of what his boys had just done.
Joseph found favor
as Potiphar’s charge,
for he kept house and field,
and the blessings grew large.
As God’s upright man
Joseph refused to go near the fire,
so Potiphar’s wife lied,
when he refused her desire.
The lie landed him in prison,
yet on him, God’s favor was found.
He was given charge by the warden,
and his dream interpretations did astound.
Banished officials were restored,
and events unfolded as Joseph had said;
for the cup bearer was reinstated,
and the baker, from the tree, hung dead.
Two years passed and Pharaoh had dreams,
of cows and grain, that were disturbing.
He called on all who might explain,
yet only found more confusion.
Then the cup bearer did recall,
that Joseph had clearly explained,
the meaning of he and the baker’s dreams,
and all had happened as he had exclaimed.
Pharaoh sent at once for him
and told Joseph of his dreams.
With God’s favor and assurance,
he explained what the imagery means.
Seven years of vast abundance,
will spread across the land,
followed by seven years of ferocious famine,
like none this region’s ever had.
Thirteen years of bondage,
was Joseph’s faithful training ground.
His heart and mind prepared well,
in all his years of being bound.
(Response to Genesis 37, 39-41)
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that so often what we see, is not what You see. What we perceive as trials, You see as training. Lord, please establish in each of us, endurance and faithfulness to trust that all things will work together for good in Your time. Thank You that Your love and Your grace will sustain us and strengthen us, even when we think that our strength is gone. May our faithfulness in the times of training, lead the lost into Your loving arms. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
“Thirteen years of bondage,
was Joseph’s faithful training ground.
His heart and mind prepared well,
in all his years of being bound.”
Lord, may I learn as well as Joseph.
You are trusting and using tragedy as a testimony of His faithfulness, and that, my friend, is evidence of His grace and of your trust in Him.
Thank you, Shannon.
Great retelling of this wonderful story of faithfulness and obedience in poetry. What a blessing. Have you ever considered compiling some of your poetic interpretations of Scripture in an ebook?
Thank you, Steven. Interesting question. My dear friend Dee and I have actually been talking about starting our next project… Perhaps it will be along these lines. My first book is available in an ebook, and it is all poetry. (click the blurb icon on this page if you are curious)
Beautiful, Shannon. Just like yesterday and The Prodigal Son, I just read Richard Paul Evans’s book, The Winter Dream, also based on the story of Joseph, a beautiful modern day adaptation.
Thank you again for the suggestion, Maria! Ioved the book!
“Have you ever considered compiling some of your poetic interpretations of Scripture in an ebook?” Second this : ) it’s coming— can you hear it : ) God’s time!!
Thank you, Denise. It may be in the not so distant future… I will keep you posted.
Blessings friend!
GOOD STORY–GREAT TELLING OF IT! wROTE A SIMILAR POEM MYSELF NOT TOO LONG AGO. PLEASE come search my January Archives for it! Jonathan Caswell, at bythemightymumford.wordpress.com.
You have beautiful poetic summaries Shannon! Joseph’s story is one that really helps me to hang on to God’s further purpose when areas of life look dismal. Those He has great plans for do not have the easiest roads to follow but they do lead to helping many others along the way! God’s blessings in ALL you do!