Readers’ Choice is here: Over two-thirds of our devotionals get emailed responses from readers like you. Hearing that what we have written is meaningful to you is meaningful to us. That’s why we love sharing some of your comments and messages. Thank you, readers. We do what we do to serve you. There’s still time to tell us about your favorite, most meaningful posts of the year. If you shared it with someone, or it helped you, let us know via email, direct message, or by filling out the linked form.
Links for today’s readings:
Oct 2 Read: 1 Kings 4-5 Listen: (7:21) Read: Psalms 22 Listen: (3:49)
Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Dave, TN — Thank you! He never leaves us. He is faithful.
Brian, DC — Many in my extended family can identify with this reflection. Some were never known or seen outside the family. Others were late bloomers whose gifts impacted people across the world. My brother and I think about these things a lot.
Barbara, TN — Hallelujah! Thank you for the explanation of the feelings that come with ups and downs! It is the downs in hindsight that leave me with more assurance of his care and presence!
This post was originally published on February 2, 2025, based on readings from Genesis 40.7-8, 23.
Scripture Focus: Genesis 40.7-8, 23
7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Reflection: Dream On — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman
From favorite to outcast. From a son treated like a prince to a slave treated like a criminal. From dream teller to dream interpreter.
The ups and downs of Joseph’s life sound exciting in a story but would be awful to live through.
Joseph was rejected, abused, and nearly killed for his dreams. After his brothers’ attack, the muck of the cistern, the shame of enslavement, the shock of sexual abuse, the scandal of false accusation and being imprisoned for something he did not do, he must have been questioning his and his family’s interpretation of his dreams.
Instead of the Sun, Moon, and stars bowing to him, Joseph is imprisoned. Instead of being the dreamer, he hears others’ dreams. Instead of sharing dreams that make others jealous, he hears others’ dreams and wishes for a similar outcome.
I’ve often wondered if interpreting the dreams of the prisoners was a flash of hope for Joseph or a mark of despair.
Was it exciting to use his skills? Or, was it a painful reminder of his apparent failure? Did it boost confidence that God would fulfill his dreams? Or did he wonder why these men’s dreams should be fulfilled within days while he waited years? Did he see them as encouragement from God? Or did he wonder why a pagan cupbearer’s dream should come true, when his dream, given by the one true God, seemed denied?
The repetition in the last verse of this chapter, I think, hints at Joseph’s mood. “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” (Genesis 40.23) Repeatedly, Joseph’s hopes were dashed and his dreams crashed.
Do you feel unremembered? Forgotten? Have you been in a downward spiral away from the dreams you thought God had for you? Have you gotten cast into cisterns, mired in mud, mistreated, or thrown in a prison of doubt?
Joseph’s journey is a picture for us of the path of Jesus, our suffering savior. As we follow Jesus, we will walk this path too.
Joseph was not forgotten in prison. Jesus was not abandoned in the grave. Certainly we are not forgotten or abandoned when the ups of our lives turn to downs.
Let us remain faithful in the downs and humble in the ups. Not every dream is of God, but every dream from God will come true. All God’s promises are “yes,” in Jesus.
Dream on.
The Lord’s Prayer:
We will take a break from The Divine Hours prayers for the month of October and instead pray Dallas Willard’s paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer:
Dear Father, always near us, may your name be treasured and loved, may your rule be completed in us—may your will be done here on earth in just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today, and forgive us our sins and impositions on you as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials, but deliver us from everything bad. Because you are the one in charge, and you have all the power, and the glory too is all yours-forever-which is just the way we want it!
Readers’ Choice is here!
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Read more: Inaugurating The Era of the Servant
Jesus is the fulfillment of every era and every need. Today, his body, the church, is called to live out the era of love and service.