Genesis 39:2, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.” This prosperity of Joseph’s is not wealth. He is a slave. It is not luxury. He is a slave. It is not freedom to do what he wants, when he wants. He is a slave. Joseph is a teenager who has been sold into slavery in a foreign country. He is a slave against his will without specified terms for release. This is the condition he is in when the Bible records, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.”
Even more: While Joseph is a slave, his master’s wife wants to have an affair. Joseph spurns her affections. She gets so upset at Joseph’s rejection that she accuses him of sexual assault and his master throws Joseph into prison. This is what it looks when it says that the LORD was with Joseph and he prospered.
Joseph is sitting in prison in a foreign country charged with a crime he didn’t commit with no specified end to his sentence. How many of us would consider this prosperity? Remember this the next time someone tells you that when you are a good Christian you won’t get sick and you will always have all the money and freedom you want. It is not true. That is NOT what God’s prosperity looks like.
What God’s prosperity looks like is when God’s work is being done through us. Joseph prospered with no money, no luxury, no freedom, just sitting in a dungeon in a foreign country with no hope of parole for a crime he didn’t commit. Genesis 39:23 reiterates in the prison context, “that LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” And this success and this prosperity are mentioned only after he is sold into slavery and when he is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
The Lord’s blessing Joseph is NOT mentioned in the context of his being released from slavery and prison. Genesis doesn’t say that Joseph prospered when he was receiving all the benefits and privileges of being second in command of the entire Egyptian empire. And it doesn’t tell us that Joseph prospered and the LORD was with him when he was the favourite son of a well-to-do herdsman receiving special attention and pampering from his dad. His prosperity is only noted in the 13 years (almost half his life to this point) that he spends in slavery and in prison.
This is significant. God’s prosperity is not financial well-being and a self-indulgent, easy life. Prosperity is when God’s work is being done. When Joseph is worshiping, serving, and giving credit to God in the midst of suffering is when we hear of the LORD blessing Joseph.
I think this is important for us today: We need to realize that prosperity is when God’s work is being done through us. When we are in the dungeons of our lives, when life is its most challenging, when we are completely overwhelmed and when we know we cannot solve our problems on our own; as we take the focus off our predicament and our own selfish desires (as legitimate as they maybe) and instead concentrate on the LORD, fully trusting and worshiping Him, then we will find that even and especially in these times of trouble we will prosper as the LORD is with us.
When have you experienced God’s prosperity in the midst of adversity in your life?
Even more: While Joseph is a slave, his master’s wife wants to have an affair. Joseph spurns her affections. She gets so upset at Joseph’s rejection that she accuses him of sexual assault and his master throws Joseph into prison. This is what it looks when it says that the LORD was with Joseph and he prospered.
Joseph is sitting in prison in a foreign country charged with a crime he didn’t commit with no specified end to his sentence. How many of us would consider this prosperity? Remember this the next time someone tells you that when you are a good Christian you won’t get sick and you will always have all the money and freedom you want. It is not true. That is NOT what God’s prosperity looks like.
What God’s prosperity looks like is when God’s work is being done through us. Joseph prospered with no money, no luxury, no freedom, just sitting in a dungeon in a foreign country with no hope of parole for a crime he didn’t commit. Genesis 39:23 reiterates in the prison context, “that LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” And this success and this prosperity are mentioned only after he is sold into slavery and when he is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
The Lord’s blessing Joseph is NOT mentioned in the context of his being released from slavery and prison. Genesis doesn’t say that Joseph prospered when he was receiving all the benefits and privileges of being second in command of the entire Egyptian empire. And it doesn’t tell us that Joseph prospered and the LORD was with him when he was the favourite son of a well-to-do herdsman receiving special attention and pampering from his dad. His prosperity is only noted in the 13 years (almost half his life to this point) that he spends in slavery and in prison.
This is significant. God’s prosperity is not financial well-being and a self-indulgent, easy life. Prosperity is when God’s work is being done. When Joseph is worshiping, serving, and giving credit to God in the midst of suffering is when we hear of the LORD blessing Joseph.
I think this is important for us today: We need to realize that prosperity is when God’s work is being done through us. When we are in the dungeons of our lives, when life is its most challenging, when we are completely overwhelmed and when we know we cannot solve our problems on our own; as we take the focus off our predicament and our own selfish desires (as legitimate as they maybe) and instead concentrate on the LORD, fully trusting and worshiping Him, then we will find that even and especially in these times of trouble we will prosper as the LORD is with us.
When have you experienced God’s prosperity in the midst of adversity in your life?
Presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, 12 February 2015
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