The Promise of Presence

Genesis 39:1-23

Genesis 39:1–23 NIV

1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Present or Distant?

We’re in week three of our four part series on God’s promises.

This week we’re looking at God’s promise of presence.

I find it helpful to compare God’s presence to breathing.

People take an average of 20,000 breaths per day.

Of the 20,000 breaths you take each day, how many of them do you notice?

Similarly, God is with us everyday, but how often do we notice Him?

Like breathing, God is always present and necessary, but He isn’t always acknowledged.

In today’s lesson we have an example of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.

We’re going to consider what it means for God to be present to each of them, and then we will look at ways we can more fully experience God’s presence in our lives.

God’s Presence

In today’s lesson, both Joseph and Potiphar’s wife are surrounded by God’s presence.

Only Joseph, however, consistently appeals to God’s presence which is why, by the end, we read in verse 23...

Genesis 39:23 NIV

23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

God’s external presence is universal and it is not affected by our recognition of Him.

Psalm 139 puts it this way.

Psalm 139:7–12 NIV

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

In today’s lesson, God isn’t just present with Joseph.

He’s also present with Potiphar’s wife.

God was there when Potiphar’s wife was born.

He was there as she grew up and married.

God is there as she attempts to seduce him.

God is there as she lies about him.

God is there when she wrongfully has Joseph thrown in prison.

That does not mean that God is alive within Potiphar’s wife.

Like Adam and Eve fleeing God in the garden in Genesis 3, God is right there.

Potiphar’s wife, however, is far from God.

Acknowledgement of God’s Presence

Not so for Joseph

For Joseph, the presence of God is acknowledged immediately.

When Potiphar’s wife approaches him, Joseph responds...

Genesis 39:9 NIV

9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Sin against God...

It’s my observation that if you want to kill sin, acknowledge God in a conversation.

You may not convince the other person, but once you’ve convinced yourself of a Godly standard, it’s impossible to move forward in an ungodly way.

Potiphar’s wife doubles down.

Why? Because she has nothing else to live for.

Flesh knows only flesh. It has nothing more to live for.

Joseph, however, has God and God’s standard to live for.

He flees

He’s thrown in prison.

Ironically, Joseph is freer than Potiphar’s wife even though he ends up in prison.

Potiphar’s wife is enslaved to sin and her brokenness.

Present With Us

The amazing thing is that we now have available to us something Joseph never possessed.

Acts 2:38-39 reads...

Acts 2:38–39 NIV

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

You WILL receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…that’s a promise.

Through the Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s presence is in you.

It’s not just happening around you, it’s happening in you.

Jesus put it this way in John 7:37-39...

John 7:37–39 NIV

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

When we repent and are baptized, the Holy Spirit of God becomes a present and living reality inside of us.

I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday, Kevin, and he put it this way...

If I lose everything, I still have God with me.

If I lose the business, if friends and family turn on me, I still have God with me.

That’s Holy Spirit presence.

That sort of presence KNOWS God is real and present, and as the Spirit lives, the cares of the world recede.

If you’ve not experienced that, please reach out to me so we can start a conversation on how to move forward.

Hold Your Breath

Let’s close with an exercise...

If you are able, hold your breath for three seconds…now let it out.

If you breathe 20,000 times a day, you just noticed one breath.

This week, do the same as it relates to God.

Take moments to pray, to remember God, to acknowledge God in your life.

Look for ways to thank Him, to repent of wrongdoing, and to enjoy His blessing.

Acknowledge the God who is everywhere around you.

He is also the God who promises to live inside those who love Him and believe.