The Lord was with Joseph.

The phrase caught my attention as I read Genesis 39 during my morning devotions.

That’s pretty bold, I thought. Joseph’s been sold to slave traders by his brothers, sold again to Potiphar, and the narrator of the story has the gall to say “the Lord was with Joseph.” How can that be?

One verse later, there it was again.

The Lord was with Joseph.

This time the observation came after a description of how Joseph gained his master’s favor and trust by running his house efficiently and well. That one makes more sense, I admitted while adding the caveat, but he’s still a slave.

Near the end of the chapter, the phrase popped up again.

The Lord was with Joseph.

The phrase was harder to swallow this time, coming as it did after his master’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attacking her. You’ve got to be kidding, I thought. The Lord can not be with Joseph in those circumstances.

But in the final verse of the chapter, the narrator describes Joseph being sent to prison, followed by–you guessed it–

The Lord was with him.

Not only was the Lord with Joseph in prison, but in whatever he did, the narrator went on to say, the Lord made Joseph prosper.

In my head, I did a quick recap of the plot points.

Sold into slavery.
The Lord was with Joseph.
Working hard and making his master rich.
The Lord was with Joseph.
Falsely accused.
The Lord was with Joseph.
Unjustly imprisoned.
The Lord was with Joseph.
And the Lord made him prosper.

To read the rest of this post, visit the special needs parenting blog at KeyMinistry.org.

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