Genesis 39:13-19
II. v. 13-19 FAITHFUL DESPITE TRIALS
A. Ill. The Context – Someone once said that “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.” Mrs. Potiphar has been scorned, and she sets her trap. When Joseph runs out, I can see her as she rumples her hair, smudges her makeup, and tears her clothes. She starts to scream and cry. The other servants come running to see what is going on. She tells them that Joseph tried to rape her. (Ill. I can also imagine them saying, “Yeah, right!”)
She holds on to the garment, and when her husband arrives home, she springs the trap. In essence, she blames Potiphar for the problem, v. 17. She says, “If you hadn’t brought this slave home, none of this would have happened. Look what you have allowed happening in our home.”
Potiphar hears the accusations against Joseph, and he becomes angry. I have always wondered who he was furious at. Was he mad at Joseph because he believed her story? Was he mad at her because he knew the lust that was in her heart? Was he mad at himself because he did not have the courage to stand up against a domineering wife? Or was he mad because he was thinking of all the money he would lose, v. 5?
Surely, Potiphar could see the inconsistencies in her story. For instance, why would Joseph had left the incriminating garment when he fled? Hadn’t Joseph proven himself to be a faithful servant who was above reproach year after year? If Potiphar believed his wife. He allowed his anger to get in the way of making a clear decision.
At any rate, the story ends the same. Joseph winds up in prison. Psalm 105:17-19 tells us something about Joseph’s pain when he was first thrown into that prison.
B. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes for a moment. You have been a faithful servant to your master. You have successfully avoided committing adultery with his wife even though she has practically thrown herself at you every day. You have been falsely accused. What do you do?
Most of us would have launched a loud and long defense. We would have declared our innocence and we would have vowed to take our revenge when the opportunity presented itself.
Not Joseph! In fact, there is no record of him even opening his mouth. In this respect, Joseph is once again just like Jesus, Isa. 53:7. He took the trial that came his way, and he endured it with grace and faithfulness.
C. I am not saying that we should never defend our name and reputation when it is slandered. What I am talking about is the fact that trials are going to come along in this life. There will be times when you will be attacked, misunderstood, and misrepresented. When those times come, remember that God knows the truth, and, eventually, that truth will come out!
What I am saying is that you and I must learn to be faithful even during the trials of life. When everything goes against us, and the full weight of life comes crashing down on top of us, we must ever remain faithful to the Lord Who loved us, bought us, and saved us.
In other words, don’t get mad at someone and try to quit. Do not let the hardships and valleys of life throw you off course. Do not get upset when things do not go your way all the time. When people lie about you and talk about you, do not prove them right. Prove them wrong by remaining faithful to the Lord! Nothing silences the tongue of a critic any quicker than a faithful life. Just live so well that no one will believe what the lying liars say about you anyway!
D. Trust God and stay the course. He is looking for faithful servants, 1 Cor. 2:4. He is looking for people who will be the same regardless of which way the wind is blowing. I do not know about you, but I want to be found faithful! He has been faithful to me, and I want to be faithful to Him!
III. v. 20-23 FAITHFUL DESPITE TRAGEDIES
A. There, Joseph is back in the pit once again. This time he is not in a pit of the earth; he is in prison. Surely, he felt like his star was on the rise. Now, it looks like those dreams will never be fulfilled. Many people would have given us and quit had they found themselves in the same situation. Not Joseph!
He just did in the prison what he had done at Potiphar’s house and what he had done at Jacob’s house. He remained faithful despite everything life threw at him. He did his job there in that prison and did so well that he was soon running the place. The jailer trusted Joseph to do the right thing, and he turned the day-to-day operation of the place over to him.
How was this possible? Verse 21 says, “The Lord was with Joseph.” That verse also says that God “showed him mercy.” Verse 23 tells us again that “the Lord was with him.” It also says, “and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.”
You see, Joseph was faithful to the Lord regardless of where he was and regardless of where he was, the Lord was faithful to Joseph.
B. There are going to be times when the bottom will fall out of your life. That is the clear teaching of the Word of God, Job 14:1; 5:7; John 16:33.
When that happens, there will be the temptation to give up and quit on God. The flesh will say, “What’s the use? I’ve been faithful; still, trouble came. I might as well give up.” Satan will tell you that you should just quit on God. Even some of the people around you will tell you that serving the Lord has gotten you nowhere but into trouble.
I want to tell you that the world around you, your flesh, and the devil are all liars! They will do their best to get you to drop out of this thing. God wants us to remain faithful despite whatever we may face in this life. God knows what He is doing, and He is working out a perfect, eternal plan, Rom. 8:28; Psa. 37:23. You can trust Him to do right, 2 Cor. 4:17. Rom. 8:18; Jer. 29:11.
C. God blessed Joseph, and he used him in his prison because Joseph remained faithful. If you and I will stand by the Lord and be the people he saved us to be, we can count on Him using us as well. I have seen people in the valley of depression be used of the Lord. I have seen people held in the grip of terminal illness be used by the Lord. I have seen people who did not have a dime to their name, and still, God used them. If you are faithful where He puts you, He will use you there for His glory!
The greatest thing that can ever be said about you and me is that we were faithful as far as our walk with the Lord is concerned. I want to be found faithful. How about you? I want to be faithful to my family. I want to be faithful to my wife. I want to be faithful to my call. I want to be faithful to my Lord. I want to be faithful to the church. I want to be faithful to the pulpit. I want to be faithful to the One who has never been unfaithful to me!
Dear friends, keep living for Jesus, even when it doesn’t seem to be paying off. Just keep praying when the answers aren’t coming. Keep going to church when it seems as dry as a dust. Keep praising Him even if you have to do it through your tears. If you stay faithful in the prisons of life, God will get glory from your life, and He will bless you in ways you could never have imagined.
Conc: 2,000 years ago, a woman named Mary bowed at the feet of Jesus. She broke a box of ointment that was worth a year’s pay, and she poured it out on the head of the Lord Jesus. Some of the people there complained about what she was doing, but Jesus said, “Let her alone…she hath done what she could”. In other words, Mary was faithful to the Lord, and He recognized her faithfulness. He honored her because she honored Him by being in her place and doing all she could do.
If the Lord were to look at your life today, would He be able to say, “They have done what they could”? Could He declare us to be faithful servants unto Him? Are you as faithful to the Lord as you could be? Or is there room for improvement?
Joseph was faithful. Jesus is faithful. I want to be found faithful too. How about you? If He has spoken to you on any level, you need to be faithful to Him and come if He is calling.
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