Reflections on Genesis 39

Genesis 39 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king's official in charge of the palace guard.
   
2. So Joseph lived in the home of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner. Soon Potiphar realized that the LORD was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did.
   
3. (SEE 39:2)
   
4. Potiphar liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his house and all of his property.
   
5. Because of Joseph, the LORD began to bless Potiphar's family and fields.
   
6. Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and with Joseph there, the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat. Joseph was well-built and handsome,
   
7. and Potiphar's wife soon noticed him. She asked him to make love to her,
   
8. but he refused and said, "My master isn't worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns.
   
9. No one in my master's house is more important than I am. The only thing he hasn't given me is you, and that's because you are his wife. I won't sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this."
   
10. She kept begging Joseph day after day, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her.
    
11. One day, Joseph went to Potiphar's house to do his work, and none of the other servants were there.
    
12. Potiphar's wife grabbed hold of his coat and said, "Make love to me!" Joseph ran out of the house, leaving her hanging onto his coat.
    
13. When this happened,
    
14. she called in her servants and said, "Look! This Hebrew has come just to make fools of us. He tried to rape me, but I screamed for help.
    
15. And when he heard me scream, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat with me."
    
16. Potiphar's wife kept Joseph's coat until her husband came home.
    
17. Then she said, "That Hebrew slave of yours tried to rape me!
    
18. But when I screamed for help, he left his coat and ran out of the house."
    
19. Potiphar became very angry
    
20. and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept. While Joseph was in prison,
    
21. the LORD helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that
    
22. he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail.
    
23. The jailer did not worry about anything, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.
    
    

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    Joseph, of all the patriarchs, experienced the most severe testing while demonstrating an unfaltering faith. All of the patriarchs, of course, demonstrated the faith  to believe God and obediently follow His instructions. But, seemingly, the strongest testing of their faith in God was having to wait on Him to do what He said He would do. Joseph also had to wait on God to fulfill the dreams He gave Joseph as a teenager.
    
    While Joseph waited on God, however, his situation progressively deteriated. Rather than moving toward greatness as revealed in the dreams, Joseph moved toward slavery and imprisonment.  Yet throughout, Joseph conducted himself with unfailing faith. In each situation that Joseph found himself he served those with whom he was placed. And in each situation, due to his faithful service, he was progressively placed in charge to the point of having full charge. In Potiphar's household we are told that Potiphar "left all that he owned under Joseph's authority; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate." (39:6) In prison, "The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph's authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph's authority." (39:22-23)
    
    This is what Joseph did. What did God do? He was with Joseph and made him successful in everything he did. Furthermore, God not only blessed Joseph, He blessed those whom Joseph served. God also made him successful in everything he did, not inspite of Joseph's actions, but because of them. Joseph remained faithful even when it seemed everything was going against him. Why? Because he believed the dreams God had given him and that God had something great in store for him.
    
    When life seems to throw us a curve, how to we respond? Do we blame God? Do we demand to know why God has allowed such a thing to happen to us? Do we decide God is a figment of our imagination and to go after what we want in life as if there were no God? Or, do we trust that God is, and that He is faithful and fully capable to do what He directs us to do inspite of life's circumstances. Rather than blaming God for difficult circumstances that come our way, we can choose to see what new set of options God places before us in our circumstances. But this requires that we remain open to God and continue to seek Him and to listen for what He has to say to us, and then obediently respond.