God was with Joseph

Genesis 39:20b-21a But there in jail, God was still with Joseph.

God was with Joseph from the beginning. It aroused the jealous and enmity of his brothers who sold him into slavery. It aroused the lust of Potiphar's wife, which got him thrown into jail. But God stays with him through thick and thin, eventually bringing huge bessing out of Joseph's suffering. We shouldn't conclude, though, that just because God is with him, life is easy for Joseph: he had to avoid temptation, maintain his integrity and work hard to prove his capabilities to his captors. He is fully aware of the desperateness of his circumstances: he refers to the jail where he has been put in charge as a "hole", and later refers to his hardship and sorrows. But he trusts in God anyway, remains faithful despite all the adversity that comes his way until God's mysterious purposes begin to be worked out.

Some people look at faith like an insurance policy or a good luck charm. 'If I believe in God,' they think, 'if I have faith, than nothing bad will ever happen to me.' We might call this the Gospel of Security, a close cousin of the Gospel of Prosperity. God, however, makes no such promise. Unfortunately, as a result of this false belief, many who find themselves in difficult circumstances see that as evidence of God's abandonment, and then they themselves abandon faith, abandon God.

Faith isn't about protecting us from life. Faith is an action, a series of practices, a discipline that gives us the tools to engage in life more fully, to experience all that life has to offer, the sorrows as well as the joys, the hardship as well as the abundance, tools like endurance, resilience, steadfastness, gratitude, compassion, peace. Such faith equips us for living; it doesn't keep us above the fray, but plunges us more deeply into it. It enables us to experience our own lives more fully, and to be present with others as they walk in the shadow of death. So develop your faith not to avoid things, but to live the full, abundant and rich life that God has prepared for you, for all of us.

Prayer: Dear God, It is hard to remember when times are tough that you are always with me. Help me remember to turn my face to you when all else seems lost, to have joy in your presence and gratitude for the gift of grace, even when I can only find it in the shelter of your heart. Amen,