Genesis 38-40

January 13

Genesis 38-40

“The Lord was with Joseph.”  When I look at Joseph’s life those words scare me. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, was bought by Potiphar, an Egyptian government official.  Joseph did everything expected of him and God blessed him and made him successful in everything he did. But Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph, but he resisted. He knew to give in to temptation would be a sin against God and against Potiphar. Joseph resisted temptation and ended up running from the house to avoid seduction by Potiphar’s wife.

She accused him of trying to rape her. She was high society and he was a slave. Joseph ended up in jail. “The Lord was with Joseph.” God even goes into the jails. God blessed Joseph in jail and Joseph ended up overseeing the jail. He was successful in whatever he did.

Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker ended up in the jail for making Pharaoh mad. They had dreams that Joseph interpreted with insight from God. Joseph’s interpretation of their dreams came true. The cupbearer was restored to his job and the baker was executed. Joseph asked the cupbearer to tell Pharaoh that he was innocent and to help him get out, but the cupbearer forgot Joseph.

There are times when we try to do everything right and everything seems to go wrong. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to just give in to temptation than it is to resist. Joseph did everything right and ended up in jail, then was forgotten by a man he helped while in prison. Life is not fair. There are times when we feel like God has forgotten us. There are times when we face more trouble resisting temptation than we do giving in to it. In the struggles of each day, we wonder; where is God? But if we could see the big picture, if we could see what God sees, we would gain the strength to persevere serving Him. The Lord was with Joseph in Potiphar’s house, God was with Joseph in the prison, God is with you in whatever you are facing today. Do you trust Him? Are you persevering? He does not take us around our problems, but He will pull us through.

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)