📅 November 10, 2025
🌾 Joseph – A Faith That Carries Through
Devotions from the Life of a Dreamer with Character
🕊️ 13.Imprisoned, Yet Free in Heart
Holding on to What’s Right – Even When It Hurts
👣 Introduction
There are seasons in life when we seem stuck. We can’t get out, we can’t change anything, we are bound to circumstances we never chose: a hospital room, a burdensome environment, someone else’s decisions, a situation that imprisons us – outwardly or inwardly.
Joseph knew this firsthand. Years in the Egyptian prison could have broken him. The walls were real. The chains were real. The narrowness of his cell was real. But something else remained even more real: his heart stayed free. For Joseph knew to whom he belonged – and who was with him even in the deepest valley.
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🎯 Devotion
The nights in the prison were long. The cold floor, the heavy smell of the cells, the occasional clinking of chains – all of it reminded Joseph how far he was from home. The sounds of prison life eventually became like a song repeating itself: hopelessness, being forgotten, silence.
Yet in the midst of that silence something happened that could not be seen at first glance. While the circumstances imprisoned Joseph’s body, they never managed to imprison his heart. For deep within his soul lived a freedom stronger than stone and iron.
Joseph knew that his outer situation did not determine who he was on the inside. He was a prisoner, yes – but a prisoner who belonged to God. And where God is, there is freedom.
The Spirit of God did not let him despair. He let him hope, even when no one remembered him. He let him serve, even when no one served him. He let him dream, even when his own dreams seemed buried. Freedom began in his heart, not at the door of his prison.
So Joseph began to live light in the darkness. He helped where he could. He listened. He interpreted dreams. He gave hope. He poured into others even though he himself lacked so much. Perhaps this is the greatest miracle of his story: that in the midst of confinement he made space for others – room to breathe, room to hope, room to believe.
Inner freedom does not mean the walls open immediately. It means the walls have no power over your heart. It means bitterness finds no place. Fear does not get the last word. Hope does not die, even when circumstances suggest it should.
Joseph showed that freedom has less to do with where you are and more with who you are with. And he was with God – even in prison. That is why his heart stayed wide while his world stayed narrow. That is why his spirit remained unbound while his hands were chained. That is why his soul stayed alive while his days were monotonous.
When the moment came and God opened the door, Joseph was ready – not because the walls had vanished, but because his heart had already overcome them.
For real freedom does not begin on the outside.
It begins on the inside.
And it grows where God dwells.
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💡 Thoughts for your heart
True freedom does not depend on circumstances, but on God’s nearness.
Even in tight spaces, a wide heart can live.
God stays with you – even when the walls stay.
Inner freedom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
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💎 What we can learn from Joseph
Freedom is an attitude of faith.
Chains lose their power when the heart rests in God.
Those who stay inwardly free can bring light even into darkness.
God prepares us in the hidden places for freedom in the visible ones.
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👣 Practical steps
Ask God daily for inner freedom, not just for outward change.
Focus on what you can do today – even the small things.
Guard your heart against bitterness, even when you are hurt.
Let God’s peace inside you be greater than the outer walls.
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💭 Questions to reflect on
Which walls surround me right now?
Where do I long for freedom – and where is God already giving it in my heart?
How can I serve others even when I feel limited myself?
What does God want to grow in me while I wait?
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🙏 Prayer
Lord,
you see the outer walls that restrict me,
and the inner walls that burden me.
I ask you: give me freedom in my heart.
Make my inner world spacious even when my outer world is tight.
Keep me from bitterness, from hopelessness,
from the feeling of being forgotten.
Fill me with your Spirit,
that I may carry light even in difficult times.
Thank you that you never leave me –
and that your nearness sets me free.
Amen.
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🔑 Key thought of the day
You may be outwardly imprisoned –
but inwardly free if God holds your heart.
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🌿 Blessing to close
May the God who preserved Joseph in prison
also preserve you.
May He give you freedom in the midst of confinement,
hope in the midst of silence,
and peace in the midst of waiting.
May He widen your heart,
strengthen your soul,
and steady your steps –
until the door opens.
Amen.
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