Flourishing in Any Circumstance

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBd-91a_KQE

The Cancer of Jealousy

Genesis 37:18-36 - When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.

So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.  Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.  Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed.  So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”

Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!”  Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time.  His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.

Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.

 

Today, we transition from Jacob to Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son by his favorite wife.  Jacob’s tale is a sorted one, involving spirals of deception, toxic jealousy, one-upmanship and treachery.  Feel free to read it is Genesis 29-37.  It is better than any soap opera you’ve ever seen.  The author wants us to see though, that God is still at work in the extremely messy life of Jacob.  It’s what God does.  That’s one thing we can remember today in the midst of our own little soap opera – God hasn’t abandoned us.

Like in so many other families, the favorite son is often the target of the other siblings’ resentment.  In the case of Joseph, the resentment, fueled by jealousy, is thick.  It’s toxic enough that all but one want to kill him, but they know it has to be an “accident.”  Let’s pause right here.

Imagine being murderously jealous of someone in your everyday life.  How does that happen?  The reality is that jealousy like that has to be nurtured.  It may begin with an unjust favoritism, but in order for it to reach homicidal proportions, one must feed it regularly – replaying the injustice over and over to the point that every episode is seen through the filter of jealousy.  In the circle of Joseph’s brothers, this jealousy spread.  At this point, the jealousy begins to be fueled by each other.  Over the course of seventeen years, it becomes so consuming, outright murder begins to look like a legit option. 

Friends, such is the pathology of the cancer of jealousy.  Though God was able to actually use Joseph being sold into slavery to eventually to save the entire family, the truth is God would prefer the jealousy be abandoned.  Proverbs 14:30 states, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."  Making the conscious choice not to feed and nurture jealousy contributes to a heart of peace.

Is there any jealousy taking up real estate in your heart.  When you think of “that” person, do familiar recordings begin to play.  You have the ability to press stop.  You can ask God to begin to replace it with a heart of peace – peace that flows out of the knowledge and experience that you need not be jealous because God will provide everything you need.  Let go of the comparisons so that you can receive the assurance that you are and will be blessed in ways you can’t see now.

 

Prayer:  Thank you God for you providential love for me.  Help me embrace that love so fully that I no longer have need of jealousy for another.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for peace for those who are being consumed by jealousy and/or anger.

 

Song:  Queen – Jealousy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSSmgXEKuY