When God Is With You

“The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.”—Genesis 39:2

What can you do when God is with you? What can you accomplish? What can you endure? The story of Joseph is about what one man can accomplish when God is with him. Joseph’s story begins with him being his father Jacob’s favorite son. While a teenager, Jacob honored Joseph with a coat of many colors, thus making Joseph the envy and object of ridicule of his brothers.

He was not only blessed by his father, but by God, and God spoke to him through two dreams that showed in veiled imagery his father, mother, and brothers would one day bow down to him, thus infuriating and provoking his already jealous brothers even more.

One day, Joseph was sent by Jacob to check up on his brothers. While he was still a long way off, the brothers saw him and began plotting his death. But the oldest brother, Reuben, convinced the brothers not to kill him, so they captured him, stripped him of his coat and threw him into a pit. Seeing a group of Ishmaelites approaching, Joseph’s brother Judah came up with the idea of selling him into slavery, which they did.

From there, Joseph was taken to Egypt where Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, purchased him. It was in Pharaoh’s house that we first read, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.” It’s strange to think that God was with Joseph, because it didn’t appear so. How could one say that God was with him after everything he had been through? If God were really with him, would he have ever gone into slavery in the first place?

What makes matters worse is that God does appear to be with Joseph, blessing everything under his care in Potiphar’s house. But then the terrible happens. Potiphar’s wife desires to have an affair with Joseph, which he continually refuses. Finally, after one last refusal, she accuses Joseph of attempted rape, thus infuriating Potiphar, who has him thrown into prison.

While in prison, a similar theme plays out with a different cast. This time, Joseph is put in charge of the prison, because “the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison”—Genesis 39:23. While there, he meets two fellow prisoners and former servants of Pharaoh, the butler and the baker. The two have dreams that disturb them, but after telling Joseph, God grants him the meaning of their dreams. In three days, the butler will be restored to his position, while the baker will be hanged. After three days, Joseph’s words prove true and the butler regains his position in Pharaoh’s service and the butler is executed.

Two years goes by as Joseph continues to languish in prison, when Pharaoh has two dreams that disturb him. Remembering Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams, the butler tells Pharaoh, who then has Joseph released from prison and brought to him. Pharaoh explained his dreams to Joseph who quickly told him the meaning—seven years of famine was coming on the land. But before the famine would be seven years of abundance. Therefore, Pharaoh needed to appoint a man to head up and implement a plan whereby they would use the abundance of the seven years of plenty in order to prepare for the seven years of famine. Seeing that God was with Joseph, Pharaoh appointed him to head up the plan, making him second in charge of all of Egypt. In a moment, Joseph was transferred from prison to the second highest position in the land.

God was with Joseph. We often think that if God is with us we will experience nothing but victory or a life without troubles, trials, tribulations, or tragedies. But that is not the case with God’s servants. Joseph’s life is the classic example. Sold into slavery by jealous brothers, falsely accused and convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and then sent to jail, only to be forgotten by those he helped, makes one wonder if God was with Joseph? He had lost thirteen years of his life in slavery and prison. And yet, the Scripture says that God was with Joseph (Genesis 39:2, 23).

God was with Joseph, and God is with us (Matthew 28:20). When God is with us it doesn’t mean that we won’t experience pain or problems. It means that we will have His favor in the midst of it. It means that God will cause our lights to shine in the midst of dark and dire situations. God will grant His favor with men in ways we may not otherwise expect. For Joseph, it meant having favor in the sight of an Egyptian official, a prison warden, and finally in the sight of Pharaoh himself. God will grant you favor when you trust in Him. It may not be in the way you expect and you may quite possibly experience hardship, injustice, and pain, but you can take solace in the fact that God is with you and He will give you strength and stamina to endure hardship for the glory of His name.

Men take notice when God’s people suffer and we are changed through suffering. May God enable you to suffer well and may you be strengthened and secure in the knowledge that God is with you. Amen.