Thread by @harrydaniyan

POTIPHAR
(Genesis 39-41)
I stared at him in shock.
I could not believe my eyes!
Yes, it’s him, alright.
He looked a bit older, but you cannot really miss that charming smile and boyish looks.
I remembered when I sentenced him to prison.
It was a bit over two years ago...

My wife had told me he tried to rape her, and she had strong evidence to back her claim: his jacket.
There was no way his jacket could have been in my wife’s hand in our bedroom if he had not been there and had taken it off.
I was so mad, I wanted to sentence him to death...

Somehow, my fury was assuaged and I committed him to life imprisonment.
And I totally forgot about him.

Until today.

The king had a dream and he needed it interpreted immediately.
Apparently, he was very disturbed...

He asked me to get all the wise men and magicians in the country to come to the palace immediately.
(Sorry- did I mention I was the Chief Security Officer to the king? I was the Royal CSO with 20 years' experience).
I gathered all these men, over a hundred of them in an hour...

The king was pacing up and down the Royal Court as they filed in. he nodded at them as they all greeted him in unison, “save the king! May you live forever!” As he sat down on the throne, he rehashed his dream to them and asked if anyone among them could interpret it for him...

None could.
What bothered the king most was that he had the dream TWICE.
It would have been dismissed as a result of tiredness or anything else if you have a dream. But when the dream is repeated, you are wont to believe the gods are trying to pass a message across to you...

And that is why the king was very restless and desperate.
There was a murmur in the Royal Courts, as the magicians and wise men consulted each other.
As hard as they tried, none was brave enough to hazard a guess...

It was safer to say you have no idea what the dream meant than to give an interpretation that would prove to be false:
Better to err on the side of caution!
Just then, the Chief Butler to the king came in. he was surprised to see the crowd and he asked me what was going on...

I brought him up to speed with the king’s dilemma. The Chief Butler suddenly hit himself on the head. “How forgetful can one be! I think I can help the king solve this problem, Potiphar!” I laughed sarcastically. “You? When did you become a dream interpreter?

I know you serve the king’s wine- have you somehow gotten drunk on it?” The Chief Butler did not even see the sarcasm in my voice. He was adamant. “Please let me speak to the king. You know I was in the prison about two years ago and…”

I interjected, “Okay, you had a crash course on dream interpretation in prison, yeah?”
“No, but I met a man there who interpreted my dream and the Chief Baker of the king. And it happened to both of us as he had interpreted- I was restored to my position, he was hanged!

I’m sure he can interpret the king’s dream.” Okay, that made sense. I quickly ushered him before the king and he told him his experience with this dream interpreter in prison. The king asked him to be brought before him immediately...

I sent some of my security operatives to carry out the king’s instruction.
About thirty minutes later, the dream interpreter was ushered into the king’s presence.
That was when I recognized him:
Joseph.
I was too much in shock to talk...

I watched as he went about the interpretation of the king’s dream, to the amazement of the wise men and magicians who looked on in awe of the wisdom in display before everybody in the Royal Court. I was still trying to digest what I just saw and heard when I heard the king say:

“Forasmuch as God has revealed this to you, it is obvious there in nobody in this country as wise and as discreet as you.
I need you in my cabinet to steer the ship of state in the right direction: I hereby appoint you as Prime Minister of the Federation!”

I felt my knees buckle, but I managed to remain standing. The Chief Butler noticed I was sweating profusely and was pale.
He asked. "Potiphar, are you okay? You look rather pale all of a sudden! Should I call the Royal Doctor? You don't look good..."

How could I ever be okay???

The man I sentenced to prison two years ago has just been appointed into an office many steps ahead of me, and this bloke is asking if I am okay- what kind of a stupid question is that?
I could not get out of the Royal Court any faster than I did...

By the time I got home, the news had gone viral:
It was on TV, radio, online, on every blog in the country. It trended on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all social media.
As I entered the house, I saw my wife couched up in a chair weeping.
I called her and she turned...

I noticed she was holding Joseph’s jacket. I was surprised she still had it, after these two years. “What are you doing with that jacket? And why are you crying?”
And my wife said, “I am sorry, dear. I am so sorry. I lied about him…”

In that moment, I could not say which was more devastating: having Joseph as a superior officer, or realizing my wife had lied to me, making me send an innocent man to prison.
I collapsed on the nearest chair, wondering what Joseph was going to do to me...

Because I know if I were in his shoes, I would surely yearn for vengeance. In that moment, my phone rang. It was a strange number. I picked it with dread: “H-h-hello?”
“Hello, Potiphar?”
“Y-y-y-yes?”

“This is Joseph, sir.
Please don’t worry about it, okay?
It was all part of His plan.
How is your wife? My regards to her. Take care and enjoy your day.”
And he cut the line.
How magnanimous can anyone be!

Now, imagine you are Joseph for a minute: what would YOU do to Potiphar?

What would you do if your "enemy" is suddenly in your hand to do as you wish?
Would you see your slavery and prison experience as God's plan as Joseph did, or you'll see your brothers, Potiphar and his wife as enemies to be dealt with now that you have the power to do so...?

"...All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."- Romans 8:28.
ALL THINGS.
Even the slavery, jail time, heart break, failure, disappointment, loss- EVERYTHING.
They're all part of His plan.

Shalom.
😇