Digging into the first parts of the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 and 39, it’s easy to see why it was adapted into the hit Broadway musical: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It’s a riveting tale of a favored son who had an abundance of self-confidence and not a shred of self-awareness. (We’ll cut him slack since he was only seventeen.) Three paragraphs into the story, we can already see how Joseph alienated himself from his older brothers, fostering a deep resentment in them. By the end of chapter 37, Joseph’s father gave him a special coat to show his favoritism, and his brothers promptly sold him into slavery and faked his death.
Catching up with Joseph in Genesis 39, we see that despite his dire circumstances, God was at work:
“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Genesis 39:1-4, NIV, italics added)
Two repeated ideas jump out to me: The Lord was with Joseph and the Lord gave him success in everything he did. Joseph experienced God’s blessing and presence while he worked as a slave. Good things and hard things were happening simultaneously for him. The coexistence of these two extremes occurs often in our lives, but we struggle living in this tension. Kelly Minter explains, “In our western culture, we tend to think of God’s blessing and our suffering as mutually exclusive. We think of blessing as all the good things happening in the middle of all the good times. But in Joseph’s story we discover something that challenges our mind-set, even as believers: Certain blessings can only come in the midst of our suffering. In Egypt, Joseph was rising in power and position. He had found favor with his master, and his work was prospering. Still, all these blessing fell upon Joseph in a land far away from his family and in a culture that didn’t worship his God. The blessings were abounding in the midst of his suffering.” (p. 34)
Those words resonate deeply with me right now as I grieve losing my mom to cancer not long ago. Sitting with her daily in her final months created many opportunities to observe God’s blessings in the midst of her suffering. Despite battling pain and discomfort, my mom continued to flash a smile and offer a word of thanks to every person who entered her room. Numerous caregivers commented about sensing a different spirit in her. Some recognized it was the Holy Spirit; all felt drawn in by the atmosphere He created.
In one of her last lucid days, I sat by my mom’s bedside reading Amazing Faith, the biography of Bill Bright, a dynamic and prayerful Christian leader. Reading together became a regular practice for us while she was on hospice. Every now and then I’d stop to make sure she was still awake and tracking with me. At one point, I looked up to find tears streaming down her face. Surprised and confused, I asked, “Mom, why are you crying?” With a tissue clenched in her fist, she gestured toward the book and said, “That story reminds me of God’s faithfulness. He’s just so good!” Within seconds, the tears were flowing for me too. It struck me that in spite of her broken body and failing health, my mom recognized God’s faithfulness. She saw this not just in the book we were reading, but in her life as well.
God’s Word was a great source of comfort for my mom. She believed Jesus’ many promises, including this one: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV) No doubt she also remembered Scripture refers to Jesus as Immanuel, which means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) What solace we can find resting in the knowledge that God is with us in good times and suffering, just as He was with Joseph.
I wonder, is it difficult for you to trust the Lord in challenging times? Are you tempted to get bitter or to wallow in self-pity when life isn’t going your way? Perhaps it’s time to re-focus your attention on the truth that God is with you all the time. Will you believe Jesus and take heart knowing He has overcome the world, even when you can’t see how He’s working things out? Do you want to find God faithful like Joseph did? If you answered “yes,” keep journeying with me as we study Genesis 39-50 in these next few weeks. Commit to marinating in God’s Word and watch how it changes you for the better.
I saw this in my mom, who continued to bless others with her love and gratitude until she breathed her last. Never was there a trace of self-pity or bitterness. Peace, love, and warmth were the defining characteristics of her final months of life. Her favorite hymn was “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and she asked to have played at her memorial service as a testament of God’s goodness in her life. I hope you’ll enjoy this version that we listened to a few days before she died:
If you’d like to join me in celebrating my mom’s life, you can participate in the live stream of her memorial service on November 28 at 2pm by clicking here.
Kelly Minter, Finding God Faithful: A Study on the Life of Joseph, Lifeway Press, 2019.