Joseph, A Season of Prosperity and Temptation

We have begun our summer sermon series on the life and faith of Joseph. We looked at Joseph as he entered a season of prosperity and temptation. When we arrive at Genesis 39, Joseph had been sold into slavery, then bought by the high Egyptian official, Potiphar, and is running Potiphar’s house.  Genesis 39 makes it clear that Joseph is in a season of blessing and prosperity fostered by God, 39:2 - “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered...”  Joseph was being blessed and life was incredibly good, but then the temptation comes.
Potiphar’s wife notices Joseph and decides she must have him. Therefore she goes about trying to seduce him to come to bed with her. She even clears out the house one day to make room for the seduction to have success. Joseph, when faced with this moment, refuses the temptation and flees! Joseph is a man who has been blessed by God and Potiphar, and does not want to ruin what God has given him so he literally runs away from the temptation. One of the reasons Joseph is such a great example of faith is how he handles temptation. He finds himself in situation after situation where he is tempted to take the easy route and give in to the easy road of temptation, but he never does! 
We all face temptation, every human being on the planet faces those moments when we have to make a decision about whether to do what they know is right or wrong. We all have these moments. Charles Swindoll does a neat analogy where he breaks down temptation into 3 catagories, Material, Personal, and Sensual. Temptation is something everyone faces, but as followers of Christ we are expected to be prepared to make the right decision. That is where Joseph comes into the picture. He gives us a good example of how to handle temptation.

1. Do not be weakened or fooled by your situation. No one is beyond temptation no matter how good life seems to be. Temptation comes to everyone. Joseph knew he was being blessed by God and that all was good, but temptation still came into his life. Joseph understood that temptation would come and he dealt with it wisely. He said no and even literally ran away from it!

2. Don’t give into persuasion or deception.  There is always that inner voice and those around us who will try to justify giving into temptation. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. No one will know...no one else will get hurt…just once and never again..everyone else is doing it, we are masters at rationalizing giving into temptation and sin. The fact is God knows… It always affects more than you…our sinful nature is never satisfied with a one time sin… and no, not everyone is doing whatever it is!  Do not be fooled; something is always lost when we give into temptation. Joseph does a great job of recognizing all that giving into Potiphar’s wife will cost him internally and outwardly.  He does not give in nor yield to temptation.

For us we have to realize there are a few things we can do to be pro-active before the moments of temptation arrive.
1. Stay out of those situations in which you know there will be temptation to think, speak, or do the wrong thing. When possible, do not place yourself in tempting situations.
2. Make sure you have strong fellowship with other Christians which will help you stay strong in your faith when temptation comes your way. 
3. Maintain a strong relationship daily with Christ. Let your relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit be the center of your life.

As you may have heard, the story of Joseph does not end in Genesis 39, but it continues as he goes on to live a faithful life for God. We will continue to unpack the story of Joseph’s life and faith. There is so much to learn from Joseph. 

Peace and Grace,
Br. Chip