\u200b\u200bAt first glance, Joseph\u2019s story reads like a set of extraordinary circumstances lived by an ordinary man. If that\u2019s the case, it would be enough to hold our collective attention for maybe a moment but not thousands of years. So why is it we are still talking about him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob (Genesis 37:3). You may have heard of his coat of many colors or perhaps the time his brothers sold him into slavery (vv.3,27\u201328). Joseph stood firm against the temptations of Potiphar\u2019s wife, even though doing so landed him in prison (Genesis 39). He\u2019s the one who relocated the baby nation of Israel to Egypt and protected them from eventual famine (Genesis 47).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the facts we see on the surface, but look again. There is an undercurrent to Joseph\u2019s story that points to a deeper truth. We see it written all over Genesis 39. We read that the Lord \u201cwas with Joseph,\u201d and when his master realized this, he also saw that \u201cthe LORD made everything he did successful\u201d (vv.2\u20133). The Lord remained \u201cwith Joseph and extended kindness to him,\u201d blessing \u201cthe Egyptian\u2019s house\u201d and making everything he did successful (vv.5,21\u201323). It\u2019s clear that while on a human level Joseph\u2019s life was marked by betrayal, fear, and desperate circumstances, on the supernatural level his story is about so much more because of God\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Joseph\u2019s brothers plotted his death, God preserved his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the schemes of man made Joseph a slave and a refugee, God gave him favor in a foreign land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he was falsely accused and thrown in jail, God infused Joseph\u2019s prison time with purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When there was no way for Joseph to free himself from his shackles, God set him free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Joseph was cut off from his family, God made a way for radical reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Joseph lived in a land of famine, God filled his storehouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God used the circumstances of Joseph\u2019s life to tell a bigger, more important story: the story about His glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s story of grace is the undercurrent of our lives too. He proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He remains faithful to us, even when we are not (1Corinthians 10:13). He is \u201crich in mercy, [and] because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. [We] are saved by grace!\u201d (Ephesians 2:4\u20135).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality of God\u2019s grace turns every moment of rejection, every false accusation or overlooked achievement, every fear and every famine, into an opportunity to showcase His glory. Thousands of years later, we are still compelled to remember the story of a shepherd boy turned slave, who was transformed from a prisoner into a man of great power\u2014not by Joseph\u2019s strength of character or accomplishment, but by God\u2019s design and power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u200b\u200bAt first glance, Joseph\u2019s story reads like a set of extraordinary circumstances lived by an ordinary man. If that\u2019s the case, it would be enough to hold our collective attention for maybe a moment but not thousands of years. So why is it we are still talking about him? Joseph was the favorite son of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":71769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71878],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"JOSEPH IN POTIPHAR'S HOUSE<\/b>
\r\nby Erin Davis<\/i>
\r\n\u200b\u200b
At first glance, Joseph\u2019s story reads like a set of extraordinary circumstances lived by an ordinary man. If that\u2019s the case, it would be enough to hold our collective attention for maybe a moment but not thousands of years. So why is it we are still talking about him?<\/p>
\r\n
Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob (Genesis 37:3). You may have heard of his coat of many colors or perhaps the time his brothers sold him into slavery (vv.3,27\u201328). Joseph stood firm against the temptations of Potiphar\u2019s wife, even though doing so landed him in prison (Genesis 39). He\u2019s the one who relocated the baby nation of Israel to Egypt and protected them from eventual famine (Genesis 47).<\/p>
\r\n
These are the facts we see on the surface, but look again. There is an undercurrent to Joseph\u2019s story that points to a deeper truth. We see it written all over Genesis 39. We read that the Lord \u201cwas with Joseph,\u201d and when his master realized this, he also saw that \u201cthe LORD made everything he did successful\u201d (vv.2\u20133). The Lord remained \u201cwith Joseph and extended kindness to him,\u201d blessing \u201cthe Egyptian\u2019s house\u201d and making everything he did successful (vv.5,21\u201323). It\u2019s clear that while on a human level Joseph\u2019s life was marked by betrayal, fear, and desperate circumstances, on the supernatural level his story is about so much more because of God\u2019s favor.<\/p>
\r\n
When Joseph\u2019s brothers plotted his death, God preserved his life.
\r\nWhen the schemes of man made Joseph a slave and a refugee, God gave him favor in a foreign land.
\r\nWhen he was falsely accused and thrown in jail, God infused Joseph\u2019s prison time with purpose.
\r\nWhen there was no way for Joseph to free himself from his shackles, God set him free.
\r\nWhen Joseph was cut off from his family, God made a way for radical reconciliation.
\r\nWhen Joseph lived in a land of famine, God filled his storehouses.
\r\nGod used the circumstances of Joseph\u2019s life to tell a bigger, more important story: the story about His glory.<\/p>
\r\n
God\u2019s story of grace is the undercurrent of our lives too. He proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He remains faithful to us, even when we are not (1Corinthians 10:13). He is \u201crich in mercy, [and] because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. [We] are saved by grace!\u201d (Ephesians 2:4\u20135).<\/p>
\r\n
The reality of God\u2019s grace turns every moment of rejection, every false accusation or overlooked achievement, every fear and every famine, into an opportunity to showcase His glory. Thousands of years later, we are still compelled to remember the story of a shepherd boy turned slave, who was transformed from a prisoner into a man of great power\u2014not by Joseph\u2019s strength of character or accomplishment, but by God\u2019s design and power.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"29","scripture":"Genesis 39:1-23, Genesis 40:1-23, Psalm 1:1-6, Psalm 25:14","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}