But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.”  But he left his garment behind in her hand, and fled and ran outside.  Genesis 39:11-12 HCSB

The story of Joseph begins in Genesis 37 and continues through until Genesis 50.  You may recall that Joseph was the favorite son of his father, Jacob.  Jacob had made Joseph this coat of many colors and Joseph had prophetic dreams which led his brothers to think he was a little full of himself and they ended up selling him into slavery.  They put animal blood on his coat and told their father that he had been killed by wild animals.  Now this all sounds really tragic and I can’t imagine being young Joseph, but the thing here is that God was truly working all this out for Joseph’s good.

Our scripture passage today tells of Joseph in Potiphar’s house.  When Joseph was brought into Egypt, he was bought by Potiphar, who was an Egyptian and an officer of Pharaoh, who ruled over all of Egypt.  We are told in Genesis 39 that Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that he prospered in all that he did.  So Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household.  Joseph ran everything.  Now Joseph was an attractive well-built young man (Genesis 39:6). Potiphar’s wife began to lust after Joseph.  Joseph resisted her, but then made the mistake of going into the house alone with her.  When she made advances towards Joseph, he fled from the house.  She had grabbed hold of his outer garment and he fled leaving it in the house.  She used this to tell her husband that Joseph had tried to rape her and Joseph was not only out of a job, but placed into prison.  So here, we see Joseph doing the right thing, but then he is thrown into prison.  This hardly seems fair, right?

Well, this is where I could tell you that life isn’t fair and end the blog, but I won’t do that.  You see all these bad things happened to Joseph for a reason.  God was at work the whole time.  He was sold into slavery, but was sold to someone high up in the Egyptian government.  This man, Potiphar may not have been a Christian, but he saw that the Lord favored Joseph and put him in charge of his household. This incident with Potiphar’s wife landed Joseph in prison.  However we are told in Genesis 39:22 that the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge there.  Later Joseph interpreted dreams for two men who were servants in Pharaoh’s household and they promised to put in a good word for Joseph.  Once they were released they forgot all about Joseph until some time later when the Pharaoh had a dream that he wanted interpreted.  Once Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, Pharaoh found favor with him and he was eventually made second in command of all Egypt which allowed him to save his brothers and his father from starving to death in a severe famine.

So you can look at Joseph and say poor Joseph, he was a good person trying to do good and kept getting punished.  Or, you can look at Joseph and say, “Wow, Joseph came through some hard times, but God was always working everything out for his good!”

Have you ever felt like Joseph?  Have you ever felt as though you were doing good, maybe the best you could do, and were being punished for it?  There is a beautiful song by Casting Crowns that is entitled, Just Be Held.  Lyrics in this song say, “You’re world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place”.  Know that Jeremiah 29:11 holds true, God has good plans for us, plans for a hope and a future.  Know that we can count on Romans 8:28 in that all things truly do work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

So if things seem a little rough right now know that God’s got this.  Even when you feel that you are in the middle of the storm, know that God is in control and you have nothing to fear (Mark 4:35-40).  The most important thing we can gather from the story of Joseph is this, no matter what situation he was in, he came out on top.  God took good care of him.  As a slave in Potiphar’s house, he ran the entire house.  He was in charge of the house and Potiphar’s field.  As a prisoner, he was running the prison.  When he came before Pharaoh, he was put in charge of Egypt.  God brought him through some difficult situations but kept him on top.

God can do the same for you.  But, you have to love the Lord and trust in Him.  Joseph never got discouraged, he just kept on keeping on.  He kept doing what it was that God had called him to do.  Maybe you are in a job that you hate.  Maybe you are there for a specific reason.  Maybe you are the only Christian in your work place.  Maybe you are there to change that.  Know that whatever situation you are in, that God has put you there for a reason.  Know that if you love Him and are doing what He has called you to do, that He is working all this out for your good.

Now I used the story of Joseph to illustrate this but there are many stories in the Old Testament where God’s people were captured and brought into slavery, but those that loved Him turned out just fine.  Examples of this are Daniel, and his friend, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  We also have Esther, Mordecai and Nehemiah.  You don’t have to take my word for it, look them up in the bible and read for yourself.

When we praise and honor God in all that we do, God takes good care of us.  My prayer for you today is that you are living this out in your life.  If not, turn to God and give it all to Him.  You will soon understand what I am saying here.

Have a great day!