Genesis 39 - When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in
everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the
Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph
his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and
everything he owned. From the day Joseph
was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to
bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran
smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. So Potiphar gave Joseph complete
administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he
didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young
man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to
look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master
trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more
authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you
are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin
against God.”
She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but
he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as
possible. One day, however, no one else
was around when he went in to do his work.
She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with
me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from
the house.
When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had
fled, she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!”
she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us!
He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream, he ran outside and
got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”
She kept the cloak with her until her husband came
home. Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our
house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said. “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving
his cloak with me!”
Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story
about how Joseph had treated her. So he
took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held,
and there he remained. But the Lord was
with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made
Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in
charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the
prison. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything.
The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.
This was a longer reading, so I’ll keep this
short. Joseph’s story is one of the most
inspiring to me in the Old Testament.
Joseph is one of the supreme examples for me that, because of the Lord’s
presence with us, we can flourish in any circumstances. Joseph is sold into slavery by his own
brothers. He is put in prison for
nothing other than the treachery of another.
No matter what happens, he just keeps doing whatever good he can
do. He earns the respect of those around
him. They trust him with more and
more. If you were to read further
(Genesis 40-41), you would learn (spoiler alert) that Joseph actually becomes
ruler of Egypt because he just keeps flourishing wherever he finds
himself.
Don’t miss this.
Joseph makes the choice to flourish in whatever circumstances (slave,
prisoner, or ruler of Egypt). He chooses
to flourish and God helps him do just that.
I aspire to live that way. I honestly
feel we all should.
One more thing – a leader can lead no matter his or
her position. Joseph show this
beautifully. His slave master, prison
warden, and even Pharaoh eventually follow him because of his giftedness as a
leader. You don’t need position or title
to lead.
Prayer: God, we
so often throw pity parties because of our circumstances. Help us to see that no matter what, you give
us what we need to flourish where we are.
Amen.
Prayer Focus:
Spend some time praying for your immediate and extended family members
today, especially those you haven’t prayer for in a while.
Song: Go Go
Joseph - 1999 Film | Joseph
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