Focal Passage: Genesis 39:7-21
All people face some kind of trauma in their life. Sometimes it happens because of their own actions. Sometimes it happens because of what others did. Sometimes there is no explanation.
After trauma occurs, the question becomes “what now?” The default position becomes “I’ve been hurt. I’m a victim. Because of this trauma, my life has been forever changed!” The story of Joseph details another option — an option that is focused on the very presence of God (v. 21).
Act 1 of the life of Joseph, found in Genesis 37, told of boastfulness, parental pride, hatred, betrayal, and deception. From the coat of many colors to the hatred in the eyes of the brothers; from the overzealous pride of Jacob for Joseph to Joseph being thrown into a pit; from the boastfulness of Joseph telling his dreams to all who would hear to the Joseph being sold into slavery; the story of Joseph was one crisis heaped upon another.
As the curtain comes crashing down on Act 1, the audience is left with the visual of “the deceiver” Jacob becoming “the deceived” by his sons with Joseph’s coat dipped in blood, lying to their father that Joseph was dead.
The audience mentally pictures Joseph bound by his captors walking across the desert while hearing the wails of his father believing him to be dead.
Lloyd
Yet, Act 1 is not yet over. Now, out in front of the curtain, the narrator of the story walks to a hushed audience to reveal these simple words “The Lord was with Joseph.”
The audience sits in stunned silence. How can this be demands the audience, with the chaos of Jacob with his sons and Joseph bound as a slave! The house lights come up.
Act 2 picked up in Genesis 39 with five different stages.
First, the audience found Joseph in prison. He had been sold as a common slave.
Second, from prison, Potiphar, a man of great power, selected Joseph as he needed slaves to operate his home.
Third, Joseph rose in the ranks of “slavedom” to become the chief slave in the house of Potiphar. For the first time, the audience pauses to think that maybe the Lord was really with Joseph.
Fourth, Mrs. Potiphar was introduced into the story. Being a woman of power, she took what she wanted, and she wanted Joseph sexually.
Fifth was the downfall of Joseph who, though a slave had risen to the highest rank possible, only to be sent back to prison as Mrs. Potiphar became the scorned victim and demanded justice.
The curtain falls on Act 2 with Joseph being manhandled by the prison guards and being led back to prison. Among the audience there is an air of despair. Joseph was back where he had started. In prison.
Once again, the narrator walks out in the front of the curtain with these brief words “the Lord was with Joseph” (v. 21). The audience is not kind. Voices of anger demand vengeance and justice. The audience cannot comprehend that the Lord was present at all. First the brothers and now Mrs. Potiphar. And Joseph was still in jail. How can this be!
In life, when trauma happens, we often ask, “how can this be!” We become so consumed with the events, we overlook the help — the presence of God. From the jailhouse of Joseph to the cross of Jesus to our very own lives, the presence of God is very real even in our darkest days. B&R
