Finding Love

Perspectives shared are the author’s. Readers are encouraged to go through the references for themselves as well.

Introduction

‘But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.’ (Genesis 39: 21 NIV)

‘But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favourite with the prison warden.’ (Genesis 39:21 NLT)

It struck me that the Bible did not just say in verse 21 that God was with Joseph. It said, in addition, that God showed him kindness, which the NLT calls his faithful love. His steadfast, steady, reliable, trust-worthy love.

Context of Joseph’s life (Genesis 39:1–6)

· He was likely in his early-to-mid twenties.

· Before this time, he had been betrayed by his brothers, his very own family. Unfortunately, his prospects of success with respect to going back home seemed grim, given that he was sold to slavery and as far as his family was concerned, he was dead.

· Let us imagine, then, that he decided to face his life squarely and look forward. Fortunately, this resolve seemed to pay off. After the hardships of his early years, things started to get better. His Egyptian master began to notice him and trace successes back to him. Then, he got promoted. He was great at his job and he had the golden touch. He was finally in a good place.

Taking a closer look (Genesis 39:4–6)

· Not long after, he became Potiphar’s attendant.

· Potiphar put him in charge of his household and all his properties, investments, assets- EVERYTHING he owned. And then- everything went boom!

‘From the time Potiphar put Joseph in charge…, the Lord blessed the household of Potiphar because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.’ (Verse 5)

· I imagine that Joseph, just like anyone else, would have been pleased to be finally getting some recognition. Finally, some respite after the hard life.

· But then something went wrong and very quickly, things took a turn for the worse. He got framed and before he knew it, was imprisoned. We can talk about his experience now, but should remember that this was someone’s actual life. If it were today, given his circumstances, some people might have asked how someone could have fallen so rapidly from grace to grass, and certainly written off his chances of ‘making it’ as an ex-convict (that if he ever came out of prison) to near-zero.

Let’s ponder some possibilities about the twist of events in Joseph’s life

· Is it possible that perhaps, Potiphar was never going to let Joseph go if what happened didn’t happen? Is it possible that because Joseph had become the ‘plug’ to his guaranteed prosperity, if there had not been a fallout (though not of Joseph’s doing), Potiphar may never have let Joseph go and kept him in servitude him forever?

· Is it also possible that Joseph had settled? You know, his first big break after so many disappointments in his life was the promotion Potiphar gave him. Now we read his story and with the benefit of hindsight know that he was destined for much more, but could that have been easy for him to see then? Is it possible that he became content with those achievements, without knowing his life’s purpose was intended to be much greater?

These are just some thoughts.

What did the pain of this experience do to Joseph?

We see that in this very lowly place, something extra happened beyond what was the norm. The ‘norm’ was that God was with Joseph. The ‘extra’ was that from this place of confinement, God revealed to him a new dimension of His love. In the most unexpected place, Joseph came to know the love of God in a new way, a comfort that no one else could provide for him.

What did this revelation of God’s love do to Joseph?

I think this revelation was a balm to his wounds. Here was a young man in his twenties who had gone through betrayal, been uprooted from all he had known, taken and branded as a slave despite being a freeborn; he had suffered, worked so hard only to have gotten framed, and then imprisoned for what he did not do. That is lot for a person, let alone someone so young and just starting out in life. I wonder about the damage these experiences could have caused to his self-image, esteem, and confidence about the future, if he had not come to know the love of God.

I also perceive the knowledge of God’s love for him also gave him staying power. It took more time (Genesis 40:1) before he met the baker and cup-bearer, and then another two full years (Genesis 41:1) before his moment of destiny came. To have waited patiently and become a person of character (Psalm 105:19) in this time is a transformation I think could only have occurred in a heart filled with of God’s love, not bitterness or hate.

What encouragement can we get from Joseph’s life?

To an outsider, Joseph’s life may have looked very unfortunate, given the spate of his misfortunes and how they occurred more and more. People may have thought his future employability prospects non-existent (given that his portfolio was something like, “Slave at XYZ establishment for so and so years, then Convict at so and so high-level prison for another so and so years”). It must have looked grim indeed.

Yet, in that place of deep pain and spiralling misfortunes, Joseph experienced God’s faithful love. I think one key encouragement we can take from Joseph’s story is that you can come to know God’s trust-worthy love in a deeply transformative way from a place of deeply scathing pain and heartbreak. When no one else is there for you and you have been truly forsaken by everyone you hoped in, God can take you up.