Last week we saw how God helped
Joseph. He had no experience running a household, and he was still
so very young. But despite all that, God placed him in Potiphar's
house and blessed everything he did. In fact Potiphar's household
was so blessed that the only thing that he had to worry about was
what he was going to eat that day. It is truly amazing when you
think about how God truly helped Joseph and blessed his work in
every way.
But with these blessings came a
test. God allowed Joseph to be tested, to see if he will continue
to live an honorable life, or if he will compromise at the first
chance that he got. This test came in the form of Potiphar's wife.
She fell in love with Joseph and insisted that they have an affair.
Now this might have been tempting in the flesh for Joseph. He could
have cemented his role as head of the house by adhering to her
request. But Joseph stood strong and we can clearly see from his
answer that he has a very high regard for God too:
"Look, my master does not know
what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has
to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has
he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife.
How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
Genesis 39:8, 9
Joseph was a man of integrity and
even with a temptation such as this he stood strong. The Bible says
that day by day she tempted him. She didn't take no for an answer.
But Joseph stood firm.
Temptations come our way on a daily
basis too. But the Bible tells us that we will never be tempted
above our ability to resist:
"God is faithful, who will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to
bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
God is faithful and will help us in
our temptation, just as He did for Joseph. He provided a way of
escape for him and He would do the same for us too.
I remember when I just started
working I had to go on an audit with a team of people I didn't know
at all. The manager seemed unapproachable to me, and I didn't want
to upset him, so I just did my work with the team. Then one Sunday
we had to work. Then at lunch we started talking and the manager
started asking questions about God, maybe because it was a Sunday
that we had to work. It quickly became clear that none of the team
members were Christians. Now I wanted to make a good impression on
the manager, as I had just started working there and I wanted him
to give me a good review. But based on the questions he was asking
and the answers he got from the team members I just couldn't keep
quiet. I knew that he wouldn't like my answers and I was right. He
grinded me with more and more questions after that, but I couldn't
back down, I couldn't dishonor God. I was relieved when we could
start working again. The next morning he called me into his office.
I was shaking with fear of what he might say. And to my surprise he
commended me for standing my ground that Sunday and he told me that
he was a Christian and simply testing me. I was so relieved and so
glad that I didn't back down. He gave me such a good review and
said that I earned his respect that day. It was such a relief. I
know it could easily have gone the other way too, but that day I
realized that I will always stand up for God, no matter what.
God will always be faithful in
situations where we feel the need to compromise. He will always
provide a way out as He promises in His Word. We needn't ever fear.
We need to stand strong against temptations as Joseph did. Next
time we will have a look at how it turned out for him. But I am
convinced that if he had given in to Potiphar's wife, he would
never ever have been exalted to second in charge of the whole of
Egypt and he would never have seen his family again. That one
situation was make or break for Joseph and fortunately he aced the
test.
May we all ace the tests that we
need to write in order for God to exalt us to new levels. The
exaltation might not come physically immediately, but we will be
lifted up spiritually and the physical manifestation will follow.
So stand firm for God and His wonderful Word. It will all be worth
it.
Father, thank you that we can know
that You make all things work together for our good. Thank you that
You will never allow temptations to come that we cannot bear. That
is such a relief to know. Thank you for providing us with a way of
escape. You are so good and faithful. We look forward to walking
this road with You. Amen