The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. (Gen. 39:1–2) The Lord was with Joseph. We need to stop right there. That is a profound, eye-washing truth. It’s tempting to think, If the Lord was with Joseph, why did he end up bruised and battered in a foreign country? Why didn’t God protect him? When we look at our own lives we think, Surely if God is with me terrible things won’t happen. Can you identify moments like that? When things went wrong, what went through your mind? Did it feel as if God was in control or that He’d
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The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. (Gen. 39: 1– 2) The Lord was with Joseph. We need to stop right there. That is a profound, eye-washing truth. It’s tempting to think, If the Lord was with Joseph, why did he end up bruised and battered in a foreign country? Why didn’t God protect him? When we look at our own lives we think, Surely if God is with me terrible things won’t happen. Can you identify moments like that? When things went wrong, what went through your mind? Did it feel as if God was in control or that He’d taken His eyes off you for a moment and when He looked back was surprised at the chaos? Until we embrace the understanding that God, and no one else, is in control, our faith remains shaky. When we begin, by faith, to grasp hold of this truth as deep as the marrow in our bones, it changes us. We don’t have to be afraid anymore. Hymn writer Edward Mote said it so well: My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
