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In Order. Can't Get A Break!

January 25, 2016. Genesis 38-40.

 

Ever feel like a hamster running around the wheel, trying your hardest to go some place but never getting there? If anyone can relate to the struggle and frustration of working your tail off just to have the rug pulled out from under you, it is Joseph.  This poor guy, first his own brothers sell him into slavery over something he really has no control over.  Then in Genesis 39 we see he is the slave to Potiphar, pharaohs right hand man, and he seems to have it pretty good working for him. 

 

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

 

Finally some good luck for Joseph. Wrong. In comes Potiphar’s wife who tries to seduce Joseph. He literally runs from her, like the roadrunner running from the coyote leaving smoke, or in this case his coat behind.  

 

12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

 

She is angry and probably a bit embarrassed, so she tells her husband it was Joseph who tried to seduce her.  Joseph is now thrown in prison and forgotten about. He just cannot seem to get a break. 

 

Throughout all of this though, God never leaves Joseph side.  He continues to be by his side while letting all of these frustrating and horrible things happen to him.  Four times in chapter 39 it says, “The Lord was with Joseph”. It is written twice at the beginning of the chapter and twice at the end.  The Lord continued to bless him and be with him throughout everything.  

 

When it comes to those frustrating times, those times when it just seems like nothing is going your way, know that the Lord is still with you.  He is with you every step of the way, look for the subtle blessings during those times.  God has not left you, he is preparing you for something better.

Previous Devotional - January 24

Andrea Fite

Andrea is a wife to an amazing man, mother to a sweet little boy, Christ following, coffee addicted, book-loving woman. She grew up as a missionary and pastor’s kid, and learned at a young age that...more