“The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”
Genesis 39:23 ESV
Many Christians follow the advice and social media of success influencers rather than God. Do you want to be successful? Of course you do. I do. We all do. There’s nothing unholy about that except in the definitions.
In other words, what type of success are we talking about and defined by what standard?
We want to be happy. Good. We want to be successful. That’s good too.
Okay…so, then what? What are we to do in order to be, you know, not a colossal failure in life? Or miserable?
These are essential questions and, left undefined, or defined fuzzily, we’re absolutely going to make a shipwreck out of our faith. The key to all of it, every single morsel of our life, is that it should and must be increasingly God-directed, God-defined, and God-devoted. Lest we’re careful to do that, be sure, the Enemy of our souls is more than happy to plant some tares amongst the wheat of our focus. Such is the path of everyone who, in the darkest hours of regret, wracked by the humiliation of sin, and failure, has wondered how it was that he made such mistakes in the first place.
To be clear, let’s set the table. Let’s not start moving without getting the first things correct since so much depends upon it.
The first question to ask is, successful and happy where?
In this world.
Well, who owns the world? God.
Who created it? God.
Who, therefore, sets the terms? Yep…you guessed it, God.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3 ESV
We’ve got to let this sink in. Lest we do the world will be delighted to preach to us a gospel of success and bliss absent the cross. It will fill our minds with glorious images of the sweetness of things gained without the Lord and on our own terms. Such is the path of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21).
Truly, it’s tragic to report, but the vast majority of Americans, living as they are in the modern lap of luxury, even our so-called poor, that is, compared to the wealthy of years ago, have everything in common with the rich fool. The life not rich toward God, no matter what else there is in it, is the life in which the final bell tolls and it’s declared, “You fool.”
Incidentally, the Bible rarely calls anyone a fool so when it does it behooves us to listen. To that end we do well to listen to what Scripture shows us about the success and happiness of the saints as well as the sinners.
The lessons of Joseph’s life are more profound than we ever imagine and this is the pattern of all Scripture. But first, we must be honest with ourselves, not lying, not fudging things up to make them seem, you know, more spiritual.
None of us would ever like to be in slavery, then in prison and accused of rape. The thing to remember in all of it is that though Joseph was not sinless, he was nevertheless innocent of any transgression requiring such treatment.
Let us beware of rejecting the wisdom of God and calling the consequences of our actions trials. Consequences are not, by definition, trials anymore than a dude driving so recklessly that he careens off a cliff suffered car trouble. Joseph’s story is so powerful precisely because it’s a tale of a man who was seasoned and sanctified, and prepared for great things, through events that God meant for his good. Let us be ever watchful. Let us stay dressed for action (Luke 12:35) so that we don’t live our life of faith in such an obtuse manner that we take sin for granted.
This is the powerful lesson of Joseph’s life that the story’s Author would like us to hammer into our hearts. Faithfulness to the Lord is always the meaning, purpose, and practical plan of life. And in that faithfulness we should know that trials will arise but that these pains are sent by the Lord who saves us to abound to His glory by increasing our faith. Growth in character without growth in faith is impossible. The lesson of it all and through it all is to serve the Lord faithfully no matter what!
In Joseph’s case, his early life was marked by that youthful vanity and confidence that deepened his brothers’ hatred of him. Granted, Joseph was unwise in parading around in the coat of many colors before the jealous eyes of his brothers. Unwise and inconsiderate, yes; worthy of murder or enslavement, certainly not. Let us be careful that we don’t use the peccadillo of a brother or sister as the pretext for our sin. This is a pattern that Scripture will have us learn. Joseph’s brothers used his immature optimism as an excuse for their murderous hatred.
Let us not forget how this whole thing started so that we can rightly evaluate ourselves in the perfect mirror of Scripture. The brothers were grumblers and complainers who did poor work and weren’t trustworthy. Jacob, their father, obviously trusted Joseph on the other hand. This point looms large. Are we trustworthy or are we shoddy workers who use the imperfections of those around us as pretext for our unfaithfulness?
Perhaps you’ve suffered because of youthful stupidity as Joseph did. Perhaps you’ve been stunned by the ability of so-called friends (or family!) to do evil things. This is a great lesson for you. The Lord will use your naïveté and the betrayal and mistreatment that results to build you up so long as you’re faithful.
Humble yourself and you’ll be exalted.
Joseph learned through bitter lessons from the ages of 17-30, in slavery, in prison, that he lived in a sinful world. The world tells us to be confident and to believe in ourselves. Such is the story of early Joseph. Self-confidence is vanity and that’s a sin. Joseph was naive and the Lord, the Potter, had right over the clay and took that out of him over the hard years of slavery.
I’ve been personally betrayed and maligned by professing Christians in the past and it’s not fun at all. Never, never, never make the mistake of underestimating the ability of sinful people, even those who worship beside you (like Joseph’s brothers, for example), to lie and cheat.
“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”
John 2:23-25 ESV
Faith isn’t and must not be confused with naivety. To be conformed to the image of our Lord, to grow in personal holiness, we must learn the hard lesson of love and that’s the ability to be sometimes crushed by the sins of those around us and yet not yield to the dread sickness of the bitter heart. Faith in Christ frees us to love amidst our hurts. Only in looking to Him and seeing how dreadful the cost of our redemption was to Him are we ever free from the brutal stings and vicious slaps of betrayal and slander. But just as well, only in Him and the sweet wisdom of the word do we not make the opposite mistake of love’s counterfeit: foolish confidence.
Christ knew what was in man.
Joseph was learning his lessons.
We are too.
If we’ll let the Lord teach us…teach us to hurt and be hurt without giving up…teach us to weep even and especially for those who gave us the cause of tears. Joseph learned in prison his second savage lesson that sin infects the hearts of men. The world worships power, money, status, and sex. This is what it, the world, calls success and that’s exactly why no Christian should be deceived as to the danger of walking in the counsel of those who worship anything or anyone besides the Lord.
The Lord was teaching Joseph the same lesson of success that every Christian should and must learn. Oh, that we would take our eyes off the bank accounts, the social media gurus, the vain and uncomprehending voices lifting up the glory of men and the attainment of trifles that wither and die, and instead heed the Lord. Oh, that we would repent of the greatest sin: pride. And it is no mistake that Joseph is brought so low and yet protected even in that abasement. We read that the warden disregarded all the lies swirling about Joseph’s character, spoken and spread by the vicious bride of Potiphar.
Does this look like success yet?
It is. It’s God’s success plan for the Christian!
Faith and steadfastness under pressure is the crown on your head that shows the true success of a man or woman in Christ. A Christian who thinks success in this world is all sunshine and moonbeams is like a boxer thinking he’s never going to get punched in the beak. The Lord disciplines those He loves!
Joseph is learning step by heart-wrenching step to submit to the Lord. He is brought low, slammed to the mat, and yet in his agonies he yet does his work. We aren’t told but later we know that he weeps deeply with his brothers, so we can be sure that in the depths of his humiliation that he surely wept before the Lord. A lesson of lessons this is. If a Christian won’t take their hurts to the Lord, truly lay them out, cry and be vulnerable before Him, then most assuredly they’ll complain to others.
Grumbling and complaining are the carbon monoxide of sins. They kill spiritual growth if ignored. They sicken as they are not the normal air of Christian life. Thankfulness, praise, and vulnerability before the Almighty are high upon the sweet winds of Christian prayers. The bitter complainer finds a willing audience to rehearse their contempt for the Lord’s control of their life rather than humbly submit to Him in prayer and supplication.
Since God is sovereign, to complain about life’s circumstances to others is to lay bare your contempt for His leadership. It’s to resist Him. Complaining is a form of gossip about God. It’s the clearest sign of either weak faith or a false convert. We must beware!
Godly success brings us to Calvary first, then to life’s basements and dungeons. Pride will resist all that. The proof that a man or woman has truly kneeled before the Cross of Christ is how well they submit in suffering. This isn’t a popular lesson, no, but it must be taught afresh to every generation. Humility and faithful service in and through the trials before exaltation.
The wicked always try and “beat the house” at the cards. They imagine they are kings. They brag about their dealing and wheeling and how they spy this and that opportunity. They speak of short cuts and angles they have and it’s so much bluster. Listen to them: no worship of God, no awe of Him. They talk and talk of their smarts but forget in their pride that this is our Father’s world and He alone brings success. Or calamity.
“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
Psalm 1:4-6 ESV
Pride is the antithesis of faith. The detector of its deadly gas is when we grumble and complain or do shoddy work because of bitterness. Joseph walks not in any such repugnant counsel. He simply trusts the Lord and does such a good job that the Lord’s hand blesses him via the warden’s trust even while in the very lowest state he could fall. Look! Joseph is a slave and he’s even now a slave in prison and yet he never yields to complaints or bitterness. He simply trusts God and does his assigned tasks.
This is success!
Success is not and never can be sin, so whatever path opens to you other than faithfulness is the Devil’s direction no matter how plentiful it may appear. Resist any temptation to better your circumstances if it involves faithlessness, conformity or compromise to the world, or, and beware, the pursuit of your own glory rather than God’s.
Remember, since this is His world, He holds your elevation always in His hands. And His master plan is to save you and not have you lost to the love of this world. The process of your sanctification will vary from mine and from everyone else but the principle is always the same: He disciplines those He loves so that we shed our love of sin and this world. Success is trusting Him through it all and every day. Joseph’s faithfulness to the Lord is evident in his faithful labor in the depth of what looks like his abandonment by God. Again, make no mistake: our success in life is knowing, following, loving, and praising the Lord so much that our duties and life show it always. Let Him raise you up. Don’t chase the world, seek the Lord.
“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””
Mark 8:34-38 NLT
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