“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 39:8-10 ESV
It isn’t Game 7. It isn’t a title fight. It isn’t a big business acquisition. It isn’t a court battle…not even, like Joseph, a fight like being sold into slavery by your hateful brothers.
It’s whether or not we’ll be faithful and honor the Lord.
The alternative is bitterness. And the fruit of bitterness is self-medication with some sin or another, envy, grumbling and complaining, gossip, and refusal to honor authority.
One thing I’ve discovered is that the easiest way to see the character of a person is twofold: watch what they do with a little bit of power and, critically, how they handle the word “no.” Joseph has both here. He’s in slavery in a foreign land. Nevertheless, because of the Lord’s blessing upon his terrible circumstance, his hardworking and conscientious character finds favor with his master, Potiphar. Not only do we not find Joseph bitter about his predicament, he speaks honorably of his master. Second, he points out, in the face of extreme sexual temptation, that Potiphar has shared all with him with one exception: his wife.
Many of us say we want a revival and we rightly lament that America has backslidden so far that she’s been swept downriver toward the seedy banks of Sodom and Gomorrah. But, alas, a revival starts with us. It starts with you and me right now. Beware the temptation of becoming a black belt at noticing the sins around you but oblivious to the ones within. Beware of being a master of what’s wrong with culture, or the peccadilloes of others because that usually means you’re judging yourself righteous because you aren’t them. But being slightly better than other sinners isn’t the righteousness of God! In this way, Joseph shows us the true heart of Christ in the midst of staggering challenges.
Now, granted, we will unlikely face such extreme tests such as these but the principle is the key. The Bible is a divine set of principles to be applied, prayerfully and in faith, to the particulars of each Christian life. To gain knowledge of Biblical stories but miss the principle to be personally applied is to assure that we can mull over Scripture while we reside ultimately in hell. The mark of the Christian, the true one, is their faithfulness through trials. The cross isn’t a quid pro quo; the Christian life isn’t a guide book for worldly success, as some would have it.
How many of us gripe about our worldly bosses? Joseph doesn’t. How many of us harbor bitterness because we’ve become convinced that we haven’t gotten our fair share? There is absolutely no Biblical warrant for bitter gossip, envy, and the bashing of authority. In fact, Scripture teaches the opposite:
“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
1 Peter 2:13-15, 18-21 ESV
The greatest challenge of our lives is, therefore, not what we think. It isn’t the outward stuff the flesh is likely to suppose, but the reaction, in faith or not, to authority, frustrations, losses, trials, and limitations.
To be clear, none of us likes limits. Joseph is okay with his lot precisely because he knows that the Lord is the One who is sovereign. Surely he must have struggled mightily in prayer. He was human. Just as our Lord bled while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, we are all given the sweet privilege of prayerful communion with God when we’re hurting. Bring your gripes to Him and let Him set you right. To honestly express your broken heart, your fears, your humiliations, even your anger, to the Lord is the greatest challenge of life. We must resist the fleshly temptations to hide from Him in those moments or to think that those emotions are somehow unspiritual.
Here’s the test: do we honestly express ourselves to the Lord or do we gripe and complain? Do we go to Him and weep, or do we grit our teeth and bear it?
Bitterness would have been Joseph holding a grudge against God for his slavery, knowing that even if he ever got out it would be years. He could have said to himself, “This is unfair. I’ll be here for years at the least and even if I ever get out and can see home again I’ll be old…my youth spent for someone else, and I’ll never lay eyes on my father again.”
Faith says, “Father, this is so hard! Father…I don’t understand what you are doing…I just know it’s you. And I know you have love toward me and you are faithful always. Help me understand! Give me faith to work honestly, faithfully, and skillfully in this place. And Lord, if it be your will, deliver your servant and vindicate him. I know you will on your own time because you are you! Give me faith and patience to wait for you.”
Sin grows from the bitterness of one’s circumstances. This won’t be popular to hear but Joseph honored Potiphar and Pharaoh. David honored Saul. Daniel honored Nebuchadnezzar. And Jesus honored Pilate. Let us resolve to do likewise. Let us prayerfully submit to living as Christ’s ambassadors no matter or outward circumstances. If we won’t we will invariably self-medicate with some sin or another. If we hide bitterness against Him because we don’t like our circumstances, and we resent the authorities in our lives, we’ll develop a habit of sin in some other place because joyful prayer and fellowship have been cut off by our attitude. Joseph was able to resist Potiphar’s wife’s advances because he saw the true hierarchy of joy in life. Can we really delight ourselves in the Lord while in sin?
Thus, our great challenges are in the heart. We must guard our hearts. We must pray to be delivered from the power of sin exactly because it is so deceptive. Are you in some bad bind right now? Maybe it’s your own fault. Maybe not. Maybe a wee bit of both. Whatever the case is, bring it all to the Lord and release it there before Him in sweet and precious private prayer. Weep before Him and let it go…from your bitter grip to His open and pierced hands…yes, those hands that love you and will wash your feet. This will give you the power to obey Him and if you’ve sinned against Him it will all be washed away in that refreshing tide of grace. And you’ll be new. All new.
If you’ve sinned against your authority, you must stop now. It’s an American thing these days…a horrible sin that’s accepted under the guise of patriotism or freedom or whatever. Be respectful and pray for your boss, your landlord, your governor and president. Don’t dare to speak of Christ on one hand while cursing and slandering your leaders on the other. Joseph didn’t do that. Our Lord certainly didn’t!
This is hard. I know. I’ve been learning it too. But it’s hard because it’s what is right in the Lord. Let us not expect Him to bless us while we disobey Him. This is the challenge and the key to the victory is prayerful submission to Him. It’s, “Father, not my will, but yours be done.”
Pray like that and mean it with all your heart and you’ve “won.”
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