Genesis 39:2,5,21,23 "The LORD was with..."

"I don't have a Bible."
"I don't have time to go to church anymore."
"I work for the money. God isn't in my work."

These are all statements I've made at one time or another. Fortunately, not for some time now.

It seems easy to blame remoteness, lack of access to resources and shortness of time for us not feeling close to God. But at least we haven't been sold by our siblings into slavery, wrongly accused of an offence and thrown in jail only to be forgotten by those who said they'd help. All this and more happened to Joseph before he rose to power in Egypt AND he didn't have a bible to carry with him.

Was God remote from him? Had He left Joseph behind? Not at all. Take a look...

Genesis 39:2
The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:5
From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished.

Genesis 39:21
But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favourite with the prison warden.


Genesis 39:23
The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.

Although things were rough for Joseph, to say the least, God was with him and showed favour to him in all situations. He even blessed those Joseph was a servant or captive to because of Joseph.

Jesus died on a cross to take our sins on Himself so that we would have freedom from sin and know the love of the father, God. It's easy to read these accounts in the Bible and see the tangible blessings God has bestowed on His people whilst missing the blessings in our own lives.

In the last year I've lost my family home to fire, been made redundant and very short notice and found it very hard to find work that uses my qualifications. This doesn't mean I'm cursed and miss out on blessings.

My house is gone, but I still have my family and take assurance from the resilience of my kids that it's not so massive a thing that my world will grind to a halt. And, because of insurance, we'll have a new house soon. I may have been made redundant, but I didn't enjoy the job I had and was looking for a change anyway. This just moved things up a little.

Among the down times I still see the good. My kids are learning all kinds of new skills and knowledge and, through involvement with church, are getting better at public speaking. I recently won tickets for a trip that we'll go on later this year that I would have otherwise put off for a while yet.

Joseph was tried and tested at every turn but because he help tight to the Lord, he and those around him were blessed.

I only hope that I can be blessed and be a blessing to my new colleagues and those I interact with everyday in my new job. God has a plan for me just as He did for Joseph, I just need to be willing to follow His leadings and wait to see where it takes me.

Next week I'll look at Joseph's attitude to the blessings he received. It's an example I know I could do with following more.

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