9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”

Dear God, of course, it is hard to know what the cupbearer actually said, but I like this first line: “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.” Wow, ain’t that truth? But I would say that the redeeming side of this story is that the cupbearer probably actually did what he was supposed to do. None of us are big enough to mess up your plans. You know us and you know our “shortcomings”. You know where we will succeed and where we will fail. In this case, you knew that the cupbearer would forget about Joseph until this moment. It was okay. It was part of your plan.

I read an interview with Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, last night and he kind of said the same thing. I forget what the interviewer asked him, but he said that he now knows that he can’t do it all so he works as hard as he can and then he rests. He knows there are things being left undone, but that is okay because you know that he can’t do it all so you have provided the church to do the rest.

I get pretty wrapped up here in trying to make sure everything gets done by me as much as possible. Actually, I would say that I was that way until a few months ago. More recently, I have been broken a bit and understand that I have to rely on others because there is simply too much for me to do. There are too many variables. Too many tasks. I need to focus on my part and then let the others do their parts. That is how you designed it all.

Father, help me to turn my palms upside down, let go of all I am holding on to, and then flip them and raise them up to you so that you can fill them. If I am holding on to things then I cannot grasp what you have for me. So help me to work hard, work as unto you, allow you to bless my work, and pursue you diligently.