
We may learn from Joseph the true method of bearing grief. Joseph might have  become moody and sullen, absorbed in his own misfortunes, and pessimistic about  the course of human life. How far removed from all this was his  behavior!
He filled his time with ministry. - The captain of the guard  charged him with two state-prisoners, and he ministered unto them. A new  interest came into his life, and he almost forgot the heavy pressure of his own  troubles amid the interest of listening to the tales of those who were more  unfortunate than himself. Do not nurse your grief in lonely brooding: arise and  minister to some one; do something in the world; exert yourself to alleviate the  sufferings of those close by your side, who have not so clear a conscience or so  bright a trust in God.
He was quick to sympathize and comfort. - Quick to  notice traces of sorrow, because he had sorrowed; able to sympathize, because he  had wept; adept at comforting, because he had been comforted of God. We gain  comfort when we attempt to comfort. Out of such intercourse we get what Joseph  got - the key which will unlock the heavy doors by which we have been shut in.  Light a fire in another's heart, and your own heart will be warmed.
He  kept his faith in God. - Depression, captivity, loneliness, separation from  those he loved, could not quench his faith in God. Still God was near and  precious to him. The stifling darkness and oppression of the prison were irksome  to the free child of the camp; but God was as near as in Jacob's tent. There is  no evil to them that love God; and the believer loses sight of second causes in  the contemplation of the unfolding of the mystery of his Father's will.