From good times to bad. From being the favorite to falling into harm’s way. Joseph knew what it was like to be riding high and then crash and burn. He had it all and lost everything.
He was betrayed, abused, left for dead, sold into slavery and falsely accused. His life was a rollercoaster ride between amazing and awful. He would catch a break only to have it snatched from him.
What can we learn from his life? Why do bad things happen to good people?
Joseph was a daddy’s boy. Right or wrong, there was no mistaking it, Jacob had a favorite and the other kids knew it, resented it, were jealous and so put out by Joseph’s arrogance, that they sought to eliminate him.
The brothers were sent to work as Joseph lagged behind and was eventually sent out by his dad to give an account for the brother’s work ethic. He found them wandering around on the job. They weren’t excited about the report he might give so they plotted to leave him for dead, faked his death and lied about his well-being. Ultimately, rather than let him rot in a pit and die, they sold him into slavery. Amazingly, Joseph eventually found favor in the house of a king’s captain in foreign land.
Everything he did succeeded. Everything. Not a few things, not just as a subject matter expert, but in everything. His abilities got noticed. He rose to prominence and ended up in charge.
Things were going well. He was not home but he was making the best of it. The trust he earned gave him opportunity.
There was only one problem. Joseph got noticed in other ways as well. He was handsome, hardworking and well built. His boss’s wife got the hots for him and in her lust did everything she could to sleep with Joseph.
He resisted her advances, time and time again as his loyalty to his master ran deep. Why would he risk everything for a few minutes of illicit passion with a lonely married woman?
She was angry and hurt by his rebuff. She threw herself at him and he ran away but not without her ripping his poncho from his back. She resented him and falsely accused him of rape. It was his word against hers.
He knew better than to ever be alone with a woman, even in a work setting, and despite doing his best to avoid her, the one time she gets him to herself, she takes advantage of the opportunity and ruins him.
Yet again, Joseph’s life takes a crash. He loses the debate and lands in prison, certain that second chances don’t come twice. He was left alone to rot behind bars. Depression, doubt and loneliness had to have been overwhelming. How could he go on? How could this be happening again. Surely he was meant for more? And while he didn’t know it at the time, in his darkest of dark times, there would be more to his story. God wasn’t finished with Joseph yet.
As the story goes he was eventually released from prison and amazingly became ruler of Egypt! What a comeback! From prison to the palace! Talk about a success story.
Not only did he use his abilities to navigate tough times to save a nation from famine but he eventually saw his family reunited, reconciled and saved from death.
No wonder Joseph is famously quoted as saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
What a perspective, attitude and mindset! His resolve was built on something much stronger than the power of positive thinking. The key to his success was found in the power of the presence of God.
As awful as his life had been, Joseph never failed to see that God was with him through all his ups and downs. Did he doubt God’s plans for his life? Surely, he did. Did he have questions for God? How couldn’t he? Why? Why was God allowing it to happen?
It had less to do with God’s will at the lowest of lows but more to do with nothing standing in the way of God accomplishing His will in the life of Joseph. No man, no woman, no challenge, no suffering, no pain or misunderstanding was going to stand in the way of the Lord using it all for good.
In Genesis 39, we are given two hints to the reason for Joseph’s ultimate success. Verse two says, “The Lord was with Joseph.” Then again in verse 21, “But the Lord was with Joseph.”
During good times and bad, Joseph came to recognize the Lord was with him. As a result, others recognized the presence of the Lord in his life as well.
Despite all that he had been through, Joseph possessed the ability to rise above it because he had the Lord at his side. He was not alone. As verse 21 goes on to say, the Lord was not only with him but showed Joseph his faithful love!
Love saw him through. Knowing God loved him, cared for him and hadn’t forgotten him, gave him the courage to face another day knowing the God of second and third and multiple chances would lead the way to His purposes with faithful love during even the most fateful times.
The Lord desires to do the same for us too. In our highest of highs and our lowest of lows, He is there with us expressing His faithful love as we lean in and experience His tender embrace.
We are meant for more and He knows it. He will use all we experience and live through to accomplish His purpose for our lives as we recognize the power of His presence.
(Reference: Genesis 39)
