After Joseph goes to Egypt he faces times where many of us may give up, lose all hope, and may even question our purpose.
In Genesis Chapter 39 Joseph is now a slave for Potiphar the Egyptian official. After go through a very trying moment after his brothers sold him off into slavery, he finds favor with Potiphar. The Lord blessed the Egyptian house because of Joseph, which seems like a far reach from where Joseph had come from. I could only imagine the highs and lows of the emotional roller coaster one would face. We in life do go through many extreme ups and downs in life and sometimes it can be hard to stay level headed and see the work God is doing in us, or what he is doing through us.
Lets not forget nothing ever goes smooth in our life as we do need to have resilience in circumstances that look good or bad. In this moment everything seemed on the upward trend for Joseph. Yet once again he is thrown a curveball, from one of the least expected people. Potiphar’s wife in Chapter 39:7-9 tells Joseph to go to bed with her, go stay without her husband knowing. This is an extremely difficult situation for Joseph. Recently he was given authority and some influence in the Egyptian world. He is being used by God to help the Egyptian nation prosper. He honors Potiphar by continually working hard and being a good steward of what he oversees in his house. Now his wife is asking him to do something he knows could get him killed.
Even more so is detestable in the eyes of the God he serves. He could have even had a thought this would be his ticket to having his brothers bow down to him, through Potiphar’s wife somehow. This would be very easy in our human flesh for any of us to fall into. Joseph does none of the things we would think. He gives us many lessons to learn from. He says “how could he do this great evil and sin against God [and your husband]” AMP. First of all the resilience it would take for any of us to have a women tugging on us being a single man is nothing we would ever hear of in todays society. He had the thought process in the moment to say, no. That’s not why I am here, I am here as a slave but I am honoring God and Potiphar.
Secondly, again how faithful did Joseph have to be to know he was disobeying God in a moment where his flesh and emotions, could have overcame him immediately. That tells me he had a solid foundation on what he was taught about what kind of man God calls us to be. How many of us can say we have a solid foundation in Christ. Every time I read about Joseph it occurs to me, when we go through trials, tribulations, mountains, and valleys. Where can I focus my mind, where can I focus my thoughts, and where can I direct my heart. The answer is God, I hope everyone who has read Joseph’s story in the Bible, or even my thoughts. Turns their hearts toward God and set their gaze on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
