📅 November 28, 2025

🌾 Joseph – A Faith That Carries Through
Devotions from the Life of a Dreamer with Character

🕊️  8.God Is with You in Trouble
When life turns dark – and yet you are not alone

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👣 Introduction

There are moments in life when the world becomes narrower. Sometimes the walls are not made of stone but of worries, losses, heavy circumstances, or inner fears. And yet it feels just like a prison: you feel stuck. Nothing moves. Nothing opens. No path seems visible.

Joseph knew that very concretely. He did what was right, fled from temptation, showed character – and precisely because of that, he ended up behind bars. Not because of guilt, but because of a lie. His life fell once again into the depths, and it would have been easy for his faith to fall with it.

But in the midst of this darkness, a sentence shines that carries his entire story:
“But the Lord was with Joseph.”

It is a truth we easily overlook, but it is an anchor for every soul that finds itself in distress: God’s nearness does not disappear just because life becomes tight. Sometimes it becomes most visible right there.

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🎯 Devotion

The prison was not the place Joseph would have chosen. It was cold, dark, unjust. The noise of doors, the metallic clink of chains, the voices of other prisoners – all of it was far from the dreams God had once placed in his heart. Perhaps there were nights when he wondered whether those dreams still had meaning. Whether God could truly lead him if everything seemed to speak against it.

And yet it is in precisely this part of his story that the Bible shows us one of the tenderest sentences about God: God was with Joseph. Not visibly, not loudly, not spectacularly – but truly. While Joseph sat in darkness, he was surrounded by a presence stronger than the chains on his feet.

There must have been moments when Joseph barely felt it. And yet God was shaping his heart where no human could influence it. In the depth, in the silence, in the uncertainty, Joseph came to know a God who is not only the God of heights but also the God of valleys. A God who does not appear only when the doors open, but who is with us as long as they remain shut.

Joseph did not lose his faith in prison because he understood that God’s nearness is not tied to freedom. God’s faithfulness was not dependent on his location. And so Joseph began to serve even in the darkness, to take responsibility, to remain faithful. Prison changed his circumstances – but it did not destroy his trust.

Often we wish God would lead us out of trouble as quickly as possible. But sometimes God works first in us before He works for us. It was so with Joseph. Before he stood before Pharaoh, he stood in darkness – and there he came to know the God who is light, even when no door is open yet.

And perhaps this is your hope today:
God does not need to change your situation immediately in order to be with you. His nearness is not the result of solved problems – it is a gift in the midst of the problem.

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💡 Thoughts for your heart

God’s presence is not dependent on circumstances.
Trouble does not mean God is far.
Sometimes His faithfulness reveals itself in silence, not spectacle.
And often God shapes us in the depths for what lies ahead.

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💎 What we can learn from Joseph

Even when life treats us unjustly, God never loses control.
Faithfulness in the dark has weight in the light.
God is not only the God of deliverance – He is the God of companionship.
Those who hold on in prison can stand firm in the palace.

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👣 Practical steps

Tell God honestly how you are doing.
Ask Him to show you His nearness even where you do not feel it.
Recognize: your worth does not depend on your situation.
Look for small moments in which God’s faithfulness becomes visible.
Hold on – not to your own solutions, but to His heart.

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💭 Questions for reflection

Where do I feel confined or trapped?
Which part of my life needs the reminder today: “The Lord is with me”?
Where am I seeking quick escape, even though God first wants to strengthen me within?
What would it mean to be faithful in the dark?

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🙏 Prayer

Dear Father in heaven,
you know the dark places in my life that no one sees.
You know where I feel trapped, where worries tighten around me,
and where I do not know what to do.
Thank you that you do not leave me alone –
even there where life becomes narrow.

Help me believe that you are with me,
even when I do not feel it.
Strengthen my heart, preserve my faith,
and give me peace in the midst of uncertainty.
Show me that you hold me –
and that you see my story.

Amen.

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🔑 Key thought of the day

You can stand in darkness –
and still live in God’s nearness.

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🌿 Blessing to close

The God who accompanied Joseph in prison
be with you in every trouble.
May He give you comfort where you are weak,
hope where you see nothing,
and courage where you can see no way forward.

May He fill your heart with His peace,
may His light be your companion,
and may His hand hold you firm –
until the doors open
and you can take the next step.

Amen.

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LumenCorde | Daily light for a living soul.

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