Last week, Joseph’s ambition collided hard with Joseph’s reality. He had been granted dreams – of greatness – but he soon discovered that not everyone was excited about his potential as he was.

That reality includes his plotting brothers, some opportunistic slave-traders, and what looks like a lifetime of service in a foreign land. From his earliest days in Egypt, our man is successful. Not just a model slave. An exemplary worker. Trustworthy (so much so that his master worried about nothing except what he would eat – the very picture of someone with no worries) Joseph ran the household without incident…until he ran from his master’s wife.

This apparent breach of trust (Potiphar’s wife did twist the story to her advantage, after all) lands Joseph in detention. And the guards soon discover that Joseph can handle responsibility.

Model prisoner. One who gives confidence to the guards that allows them to give Joseph the same freedom he once enjoyed in his master’s house. There was nothing to fear when Joseph was in charge.

It seems a strange way for his early dreams to work themselves out. Being trusted in a correctional facility is hardly the same as having folks bow down to you (as his dreams suggested) But maybe Joseph is showing us what it is like to live with eyes open to signs of God’s activity? It’s possible that Joseph is learning to live into faith.

These men are disturbed, both by their dreams and by a lack of interpreters. Joseph, the dream guy, offers this bit of sage advice: ‘“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

I’d like to think that there is a considerable pause between these two sentences. Joseph knows he is not God. But he understands that there are benefits to being open to divine possibilities.

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The Presbyterian Church in Canada has a lot to say on the nature of faithful living. We even have a booklet called ‘Living Faith” that we use to express how we might faithfully engage the world. And the chapter on ‘faith’ is very interesting.

It opens with a very important assertion. Faith is a gift of God.

There are things we must do to acknowledge the gift, things which can include shared worship and celebration, shared responsibility and accountability, and acceptance that God is in our midst, no matter what our other circumstances may be. But the principle that matters is that ‘faith’ does not depend on us.

We do need some understanding of the universe that includes something other than us at the centre. It helps if you can learn (or develop) a vocabulary of faithfulness – to clearly express ideas that allow for a sense of wonder / awe.

The miracle of Joseph’s story is not that he interprets dreams. The miracle is that he has discovered (or confirmed?) his understanding of God in isolation. No shared worship – only the stories of his youth to sustain him. No ‘community of faith.’ Just his senses, tuned to a divine frequency.

Living Faith is honest about the possibility that we may struggle to find companions for our journey. “We may have trusted God from childhood; or our faith may have come later in life. Faith may come suddenly or only after a struggle to believe.” This gift of God can indeed find us and shape is in all manner of strange circumstances. And our response to this gift is what matters.

Faith fully fleshed is our response to God’s presence in the midst of life. In triumph or tragedy – in community or in isolation, faith moves us to action.

At this point in his story, Joseph seems to have some ideas about what God may be doing. He knows enough to credit God for these insights he is given. His actions are limited by his circumstances, but that will eventually change. But the Genesis account is offered to show us a gradual awakening to God’s constant presence. Beyond the boundaries of tradition – apart from the family legacy – with no apparent path to reconnection or reconciliation, Joseph’s awareness of God develops (and changes) in circumstances that are less than ideal. He learns – in the words of living faith – to say “yes” to the God who is present.

Our situation is different. We are steeped in a tradition that has proclaimed God is with us for centuries. We celebrate Jesus in public holidays. We have (it would seem) no excuse to claim either ignorance or isolation where the particulars of the Christian faith are concerned.

Yet it is easy to grow weary of the mechanics of faithfulness. We are not eager to be told how to believe. Too often we are invited to claim faith as though it was a prize to be won or an accessory to be claimed on the way to some sort of eternal celebration. ‘Faith in Christ’ has, for some, become a statement emptied of glory. Because we have forgotten the lessons of Joseph’s story.

We forget that Jesus’ path included isolation and doubt. We forget that when Jesus invites us to follow him, it is into a life lived in full awareness of God’s presence. Not a perfect life. Not a life lived without trouble. Not even a life that involves a one-way, express ticket to an eternal paradise. A life spent saying yes to God who is here.

What would it be like if we could learn to accept God’s gift of faith – not as a reward, but as a tool in our survival kit.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could be persuaded to keep our eyes open for signs of God in our midst.

Pray that we might learn what it means to live in the light of God’s gift of faith.