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Dark Out


Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined (Genesis 39:20)

          In today’s reading in Living With Your Dreams, Dr. Seamands deals with Joseph’s imprisonment as the result of lies told to the captain of the pharaoh’s guard by the captain’s wife. He spends some time dealing with the various sorts of non-physical dungeons we face: dungeons of darkness, disappointment, and delay.
          In the midst of his discussion of dungeons of darkness, he points out that while there was darkness all around Joseph, he didn’t allow the darkness to dwell in his heart. That may be some hagiography, painting of Joseph to be stronger than he actually was. Scripture doesn’t tell us that Joseph was always upbeat, a Pollyanna in prison. But he was different. He turned from his own problems to tend to the needs and problems of others, and the prison official noticed and used it to his benefit and the benefit of everyone there. If Joseph allowed darkness to enter his heart, it was probably only in moments of weakness.
          His mention of darkness entering one’s heart set off claxons in my mind. This is what I’ve spent years trying to overcome and stave off, with mixed results. That’s part of why I ask for people to pray about my attitude. The other reason claxons rang was because as I read about the idea, I realized that right now, it seems to me that the darkness is losing.
          This isn’t the first time I’ve had something like this happen. I can’t tell you the number of times I was in physical pain and suddenly realized that I wasn’t in pain anymore, and had no real idea when it stopped. That’s not to say that there isn’t anything we can do about it, but that we often don’t recognize the progress that has been made. 
          Even with the understanding that we may not understand, we need to work toward a lifestyle of no darkness in our heart no matter how dark it is outside.

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