Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Getting through tough times”
Our Bible verse for today: “Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man.” Genesis 39:1-2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We can have success in the midst of adversity”
As we follow Joseph’s story we find that sometime after the Ishmaelite traders arrived in Egypt they sold their slave Joseph to an Egyptian official by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar then took Joseph into his home to work as a household slave.
Usually when we remember this part of Joseph’s story we recall that he excelled as a servant to the point that Potiphar put him in charge of the entire household. What we forget is that it didn’t start out that way. Slaves in Egypt were not treated well. Joseph would surely have been mistreated by the Ismaelite traders, little better than an animal. Upon arriving in Potiphar’s household he would probably have been beaten right away, just to make sure he understood his place, and then given poor living conditions and the lowest, most demeaning work to do.
It was within that environment of pain and suffering, hardship and toil that the young man excelled. And he did it for an extended period of time. As he worked day-by-day, doing a good job, showing respect, maintaining a good attitude, those around him slowly began to realize that there was something special about him. Soon he was promoted from cleaning the chamber pots to sweeping the floors and taking out the trash. Some time later he was allowed care for the Master’s clothes and to serve at the dinner table.
Over time, as Joseph handled his tough situation with dignity, strength of character, and consistent cheerfulness, his conditions steadily improved. As this was all happening, over a long, drawn out period of years, Joseph had no idea what the future held for him – but he did know Who held the future. He knew that God was good and the He was Sovereign over the events of his life, and so Joseph focused on excelling in the moment and trusting the future to God.
Therein lies the lesson for us. Our circumstances might not be what we want them to be – in fact they may be awful. But we can still resolve to excel in the present moment, and then in the next one, and in the one after that, and to just keep doing our best, with a good attitude, strength of character, and with dignity, and then trust the future to God.
God got Joseph through his tough times and he will get you through yours as well.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 