Mark continued his series on Joseph this morning, looking at Genesis 39:1-4 TNIV. Having considered how the worst day of his life (when he was sold into slavery) was actually the beginning of the fulfilment of God’s plans imparted to him in a dream and then having looked at the ‘strange place’ when we are in between God speaking and the fulfilment of His promises, today we looked at what Joseph actually did in the intervening years.
The key truth is told us in Gen 39:2 TNIV:’The Lord was with Joseph.’ Despite all that had happened, God was with Joseph. He had not abandoned him or forgotten him, even if it seemed that things were still going wrong, since being sold into slavery cannot have been how Joseph expected to see the dream fulfilled. God had actually engineered all the circumstances, however – Reuben’s conscience refusing to allow his brothers to kill Joseph, the Ishmaelites being on hand to buy Joseph, Potiphar now having a vacancy in his household for a slave – to bring Joseph to this place. God is able to influence even non-believers so that His plans come to pass!
When God is with us, what happens? We see that Joseph was successful in his work. God was revealed in his life through his ordinary, mundane service and Potiphar saw that the Lord was with him. He recognised something different about Joseph in the way that he worked, and as God is with us, people will see something different in us too: loyalty, steadfastness, diligent work should all be characteristics of the Christian.
Gen 39:3 TNIV tells us that God caused everything Joseph did to prosper. Joseph worked; he was not idle, simply waiting for God to bless him. He worked and served God to the best of his ability, cooperating with God and recognising that God was in control. As a result, Joseph found favour in Potiphar’s sight and was promoted. He served Potiphar as a way of serving God (see Col 3:22 TNIV), rather than simply working. Service comes as we get to know God and see that He is in every aspect of our lives. Joseph’s dream was actually getting closer to fulfilment, but it may well be that there was still no visible evidence of this to him. We have to serve God by faith, trusting Him to work all things together for good even when we cannot trace what He is doing.