Have you been attacked for your obedience to Jesus? Have you ever been following God and obeying him the best that you can, when all of the sudden you find yourself blamed for something you never did? If you have had this happen to you, you aren’t alone, nor are you the first. Today we are going to take a look at a man in the Old Testament who was excited about following God and found himself in some pretty bad places as a result. 

Joseph Had A Dream

When we are first introduced to Joseph, he is a young man who is excited about a dream God gave him. “Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) 

Joseph’s brothers hate him. Why? For one he is their father’s favorite son. Joseph is the firstborn son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. Therefore, Joseph became Jacob’s favorite by virtue of who his mother is. This favoritism makes all of Joseph’s older brothers jealous of him and despise him. Then this kid comes around bragging about a dream God gave him. In this dream they are honoring and subservient to Joseph. After some time these brothers come to hate their little brother so much they decide the only thing they could do is to kill him. 

A Life In Peril

“They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ (‭ESV)‬‬

Thankfully, they decide not to murder their baby brother, but sell him into a life of slavery instead. 

“Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭26‬-‭28‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

Unexpected Blessing

We find Joseph on the mountaintop one minute, excited about his future God showed him, and in the pit (literally) the next moment being sold into slavery and forced to live in a land he never wanted to be. Still Joseph clearly chooses to continue to follow God and serve him. We find him next serving a powerful man named Potiphar in Egypt. Potiphar is a captain of the guard in the Egyptian army. This man has power, success, and notoriety in his community. 

Yet, God sees fit to allow Joseph to be an instrument to bless Potiphar even more. Not to mention Joseph likely got quite an upgrade in living conditions as a servant of Potiphar. He is able to eat food he has never tasted before, see things he never thought about before, and experience a whole new way of life. Sure, if he had a choice he would have likely chosen to go back to his home with his father and mother, but if he has to be away from home, Potiphar’s home is a nice place to be. 

Things Are Going Well

We see things going well for Joseph and Potiphar. “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate…” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭2‬-‭6s‬ (‭ESV)‬‬

Joseph is doing well. He is growing both physically and spiritually while he lives with Potiphar. He learns how to manage a home and becomes a man. Potiphar clearly sees the blessing of God on Joseph’s life. He recognizes that it is to his benefit to put Joseph in charge of everything he owns because whatever Joseph is in charge of is blessed and becomes very fruitful. Things are looking good for both Joseph and Potiphar. 

A Bump In The Road

Things are going well until Potiphar’s wife gets involved. “Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭6b‬-‭10‬ (‭ESV)‬‬ 

Joseph is living his life. He obeys God and lives his life according to the ways in which God wants him to live. He does his best to serve God in all he does. The result is a great blessing over his life. Life is going well for Joseph. Then temptation hits him square in the face. He now has a choice to make: sleep with his master’s wife or obey God’s word. Of course we would say he should obey God’s word. 

What Would You Do?

Have you ever been faced with a choice like this? You could lie on a document and be exalted in the company, or tell the truth and risk being ridiculed or, even worse, fired. What did you do? I pray you did what God says to do! Perhaps you did the right thing, thinking God would protect you and even promote you for doing what is right. 

Joseph does just that. Let’s see how it works out for him. 

It Comes To A Head

“But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 

And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 

The Big Lie

Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” 

As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭11‬-‭20‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

Joseph does exactly what God tells him to do. He obeys God in all his interactions with Potiphar’s wife. What happens to him? Is he congratulated for standing up against temptation? Does Potiphar come to his defense, knowing Joseph’s character and that he would never have done what his wife is accusing him of doing? No. Potiphar takes the side of his wife and sends Joseph to jail! 

What Did Potiphar Think?

Here’s the thing. We can’t be sure about any of what I’m about to say. This is all speculation on my part. I wonder if Potiphar knows his wife is lying but has to take her side to protect his job and way of life. 

Could it be that Potiphar’s wife was a daughter of the Pharaoh? He likely knows she is seductive and willing to sleep with anyone she fancies. Perhaps this is how he ended up married to her in the first place. She may have used her seductive ways to entrap him into marrying her, and thus he knows exactly the tactics she uses to snare her prey. 

We can’t know for sure, but we can guess based on what we know about her and her character laid out before us in the Bible. We know she is promiscuous. She is determined to sleep with Joseph and pesters him over and over and over again to do so. We know she is a woman who is used to getting what she wants. How do we know this? Because when she doesn’t get her way, she lies about the situation, knowing that Joseph will be punished for it. 

The thought that Joseph is the first man she desires to sleep with outside of marriage is ridiculous. I’m sure Potiphar knows his wife is unfaithful, but it seems he can’t do anything about it. Perhaps it is part of their culture, or maybe his job and position is dependent on making her happy. We can’t be sure, but we do know he sides with his wife and sends Joseph away. 

Free From Troubles?

Just because Joseph is following and obeying God, doesn’t mean his life is going to be perfect. Far from it. He chooses to obey God and not sleep with his master’s wife, only to find himself in jail for his integrity. 

Have you found yourself in a similar predicament? Have you been asked to do something you know goes against the Bible and stood firm in your convictions only to be fired or sued because of it? 

Maybe you have been given a message to deliver to a friend, only to discover what they claimed they heard was not at all what you said or meant. Maybe you even lost this friendship because you were obedient to God. Perhaps you acted in a way you felt God wanted you to act, only to have someone rake you over the coals and accuse you of all sorts of lies. 

If/when you find yourself in these sorts of situations, rejoice. Wait, did I just say rejoice at being accused of lies or being fired from your job or losing a friendship? Yes, I certainly did. We can rejoice because we know we have obeyed God. Obedience to God is worth everything. We can rejoice, knowing that God is our protector and deliverer. He is really good at making beauty out of ashes. 

The Rest Of The Story

If you continue to read about the life of Joseph, you will learn that even in jail God blesses him. God uses his time in jail to set the stage to fulfill the dreams God gave to Joseph as a young man living with his family. God will do the same for you too. It just takes time and trust to allow God to move in your life. 

And remember what James 2-4 (ESV) says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” 

The testing in trials produces the ability to stand firm and become immovable. When steadfastness is complete in your life you won’t lack in anything because you will be perfected and complete. ‬‬This my friend is what life is all about. Becoming perfected and lacking nothing, even if the world looks at you and thinks otherwise. In Jesus we can accomplish these things. Because of Jesus we can truly make lemonade out of lemons.