LIFE SCRIPTS

6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. 11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.” 16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18 so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.” 19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.
Genesis 39:6‭-‬23 NKJV

https://bible.com/bible/114/gen.39.6-23.NKJV.

The good doesn’t always lead to good from others. Joseph was a man favoured by God in the eyes of his master so much so that he left all his property under his care. But the good that Joseph showed towards his master and his commitment to God did not insulate him from the evil that exists in the world. This is a grim reality that we must face on a daily basis. When we do good, follow the rules, are respectful, hardworking, are honest, respect our superiors and obey God, bad things will still happen to us. Here, Potiphar’s wife had a scheme up her sleeve. Upon seeing Joseph’s attractive physique, she sought to unsuccessfully seduce him on several occasions. In her mind probably she must have thought of how irresistible she was: married to a very powerful man in the land, able to make herself attractive and was wealthy. All Joseph had to do was to justify his actions. But he had a conviction that carried him way above the pleasures and temptations of this world. As believers in Christ, we must not be ignorant of sexual temptations that present themselves to us in moments when we are walking steadfastly with God. Sexual temptations are probably the most enticing for us men irrespective of our spiritual state. Solomon in the book of Proverbs 7, while talking about the young man deceived by the adulteress is candid. He states that sexual sin has floored many mighty men (vs 26). So as Joseph faced these continuous seductive encounters, he kept on recounting his commitment to his master and above all to His God. But when push came to shove, he left his garment in the hands of the seductress and fled out into the open. This is a major winning strategy to defeating sexual temptation. Sexual sin thrives in secrecy. But the moment we choose to leave the comfort of our privacy, we fire a damaging salvo to these temptations. In a confined situation, one thing would lead to another and before long, the rest will be history. As laughable as it sounds in our age of machoism, a real man runs away from sexual temptation. Paul in 2 Timothy 2:22 echoes this message, “Flee from youthful lusts”. But as Joseph sped off out of his master’s house, the seductress was now twisting the story to fit her narrative. Her intention was now to nail the same man whom she had tried to sleep with. Sexual lusts lead to probably the most selfish form of behaviour known. When we’re driven by lust, the only goal is to satisfy ourselves and care less for the other. By this time, Joseph’s fate was sealed. As a foreign slave in the hands of a powerful woman whose word is law, Joseph had no recourse but to go to jail. This is the same fate that befalls foreigners who end up being implicated with wrongdoing yet because they have no legal recourse, they end up in jail. This is an issue of concern in our nation Kenya which hosts many nationals from our neighbouring nations experiencing political instability. Some of these nationals suffer the same fate Joseph suffered. In a western world that is increasingly becoming xenophobic, many foreigners from developing nations seeking refugee status in Europe and America suffer the same fate. But verse 20 gives us assurance. It says that the Lord was with Joseph even while in prison. He showered him with His favor even in a situation that looked miserable. No situation is too grim for God to use to His glory. Joseph while in prison now became a leader. He may have had many questions about his circumstances. However God had the big picture before Him. He was in control then and still is now even in our grimiest situations.