Lemons to Lemonade

As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. (Genesis 39:19-23 ESV).

“Turn your Lemons to lemonade” was the meme I saw recently. I cannot say that I disagree with the basic premise of this practice; however, I am also mindful that it takes great sacrifice for the lemon to become that cool refreshing drink. Think about it. They first have to be crushed to the point that all the juice has been extracted; then they are thrown to the side where their only hope is to be scraped for their added flavoring by the “zest.” Ouch! The pain doesn’t end there though. If there is any consciousness left in the juice they then become acutely aware of being immersed in ice cold water. Really? All of this just for a refreshing drink? I am often tempted to think that I’d be just fine staying a lemon. Life can tempt us toward that thought. We tend to define our life based on our perception of our progress. That perception of failure when we are given less than perfect results in life is based on a false understanding of the truth. Life is never defined by our performance or circumstances. What really makes any life worth living today is the presence and protection of the almighty, all-satisfying God. Joseph’s story proves that. After being sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph surprisingly rose to power in perhaps the most powerful empire in the world. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. But Potiphar’s wife lusted after Joseph and tried to seduce him. When he faithfully refused her advances, she framed him, claiming he had come to her. Her lies ripped him from all his power and responsibility and landed him in prison. He committed no sin, at least not with Potiphar’s wife, neither was deceit found in his mouth, and yet he was treated as worse than a slave, locked away without hope of release. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; whether in power or in prison, Joseph’s life was hope-filled, meaningful, and successful, not because he worked so hard or received what he deserved, but because God was with him. That’s the good news of lemonade making!