The Lord Was With Him

      By Fern Horst

"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.... And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper."(Genesis 39:1-3; 20-23)

The story of Joseph is another fascinating one among many in the Bible. In a sense it's every mistreated younger brother's fantasy! It is admittedly rather satisfying to see Joseph's life progress from the abused little brother to a ruler who could take any type of revenge he would have wanted to on his cruel older brothers.

What mostly fascinates me about Joseph's life, though, is that God's hand was in it; each tragedy moved Joseph closer to the purpose God had for him. After his brothers sold him to slave traders, he was he taken into Egypt where Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah's army, bought him to be his servant. The Bible says, "And the Lord was with Joseph" and "made all that he did to prosper in his hand."

But again misfortune and mistreatment strike. Potiphar's wife did her best to get him to sleep with her when her husband wasn't there. When Joseph refused, she turned her plot for seduction into revenge, and Joseph ended up in prison. But again, even in prison, the Bible tells us that "the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper."

Later, after events in prison brought him into contact with Pharoah, who made him second as ruler over Egypt, Joseph had the opportunity to reveal himself to his astonished and terrified brothers. He graciously reassured them: "Don't be angry with yourselves that you sold me, because God was in it to send me here for a purpose. Your purpose was to cause me harm, but God allowed it to bring good."

Often we're tempted to look at the misfortune of our own lives as an end in and of itself. The rejection of a lost love, the death of someone close to us, financial struggles, the elusive perfect job opportunity — all of these seem pointless and even devastating in our own dreams for our lives. But God has a promise for us, that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). It's easy to see the tragedies as stepping stones towards good in Joseph's life, because we can read about his whole life in one sitting. It's harder to see that in our own lives, when much of it is yet to be known.

This much we do know: the same God that guided Joseph purposefully across the right stones to the right destination, is the same God who is at work in our own lives. Our challenge is to trust that He is guiding us to step on the right stones, even when some of them are sharp and rough and painful. They may seem like steps that should be avoided, but God knows what He's doing to lead us in the right direction in fulfilling His purpose for our lives.

© 2002 Fern Horst

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