Day 14

I love the story of Joseph. I believe it is one of, if not my favorite, stories of the Bible. I am looking forward to the readings of the next few days.

After reading the first chapter, 37, I feel so blessed to have the family and friends that I have. Joseph's brothers hated and envied him so much, that they wanted to kill him. But instead, they sold him into slavery because that way they could earn some money while getting rid of him! What a hatred these brothers must have had! I can't imagine how Joseph felt to be thrown into a pit for most of the day, then sold to merchants so he would never see his father or his brothers or anything familiar to him ever again!

But one of the coolest statements in the entire Bible comes in chapter 39, verse 2, "The Lord was with Joseph..." To me there is nothing greater than to be able to say, "The Lord is with me." Even though Joseph was sold into slavery, he ended up being a servant for Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. He could have been sold to a farmer, or a carpenter, but no, he was sold to an officer in the royal realms of Egypt.

Verse 2 continues, "...and he became a successful man... His master saw that the Lord was with him and the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake..." I think this is so neat that whatever Joseph did, the Lord was with him and blessed him, and even his master through him.

I can relate in that I left my family and friends and all that was familiar to me and went to college 1,200 miles away from home. I know that is not the same as being sold by my family, but I was alone in a new place with nothing familiar. I had to find a job there, and the only thing available was to work dispatch in the campus security department on 3rd shift. I had never done anything like this before, but I ended up getting the job. The Lord was with me during this time because soon after I started, several large incidents arose that I had to handle; even some including situations where someone else's life depended on me and how I reacted. I understood after those times that there was no way I could have done any of that on my own. The Lord was with me through it all.

After college, I ended up finding a job that is roughly 1,200 miles away from both my home and where I went to college. This time I had my wife as a companion, and also, the Lord was and is with me. I worked at my job to the best of my ability, but others saw more and "temporarily assigned" me to a higher, more technical position with higher responsibility which became permanent soon after. They saw very early in me that I would be able to handle the position and all that it entails well before I believed I could. And the Lord has been with me and has blessed me. It is similar to the last verse of chapter 39 in that, "The keeper of the prison [my boss at my job] paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's [my] charge, because the Lord was [is] with Joseph [me]. And whatever he did [I do], the Lord made [makes] it succeed." I continue to see Him blessing me every day and like Joseph, I believe others see that the Lord is with me and blessing me as well. I thank God every day for the position I have, the boss that I have, for those that I work with and for blessing me so richly.

This also makes me scared as well. Chapter 39 describes how Potiphar's wife tries to entice Joseph to sleep with her and loose favor with his master. But Joseph refuses each time. This frustrates Potiphar's wife and she manipulates the men of her household and Joseph's master into thinking Joseph wronged her and he ends up being thrown into prison. I am almost expecting to be manipulated and outcast like Joseph. It seems as though this can't last forever and that makes me scared. I know I am not Joseph, and the Lord is with me and has a plan for me, but I am sometimes afraid of what His plan has in store for me.

This is where my faith is weak. I have to keep trusting that the Lord is with me and has both His and my best interests in mind and He will take care of me. One of the comforting things is at the end of chapter 39 when Joseph is thrown into prison, verse 21 and following says, "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed."

I have to rest in the comfort of knowing that whether things continue as is, or if something does happen, either good or bad, the Lord will still be with me and will bless me. Living a life confident of this is what true faith is all about. This confidence is what I have to strive for.