D - Joseph Pt. 4 (Genesis 39: 19-23)

It has been a while since we’ve been together, last time we were together we saw how Joseph was sold by his brothers to slave traders. And later he was bought by a man named Potiphar. Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph so he put Joseph in charge of all of his house, and God helped Joseph.

But although Joseph seemed to be doing better, things are about to take a turn. Before we jump into today’s story, why don’t we take a look at our new memory verse for this month:

Psalm 139:7 NIV

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

Pretty simple right? What does it mean? Well more than anything, Psalm 139 is famous for 2 reasons. It’s famous because It was written by King David. And because this is the Psalm that talks about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

This Psalm is a poem. David is asking: Where can I go that God won’t be? In other words, God is with us everywhere we go.

In today’s story we are going to see part of that too. Why don’t we read in Genesis together:

Genesis 39:19–23 NIV

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.

Wait a minute, last time we were reading this story, Joseph was doing good. He was kicking it back with Potiphar and he was running the house. Everything is all good, and now all of a sudden he’s in jail?

What did we miss? Well, we skipped a couple of verses but what happened was Joseph was being accused of trying to steal Potiphars wife. Isn’t that crazy? Was Joseph really trying to steal his master’s wife? Absolutely not!

But Potiphar believed it and put Joseph in jail. Gosh man: so far Joseph has been:

Bullied by his brothers.

Sold into slavery.

Had to work as a slave.

Put in jail for something he didn’t do.

Could it get any worst? It might, it might not. We’ll find out next week as we continue to read the story. But check out this verse right here:

Genesis 39:21 NIV

21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

The Lord was with him. God was with Joseph. what does this teach me? That it does not matter where you are, God is there also. Am I having the worst day ever? God is with me. Am I trying to hide away from all of the noise I’m surrounded by? God is there. Am I feeling attacked or frustrated with the people around me? God is right there with me.

I just can’t help but remember the story of Daniel’s friends being thrown into the fire. We talked about these guys 2 Sunday’s ago. These guys got thrown into a pit of fire and guess who went with them? Jesus was right there with them.

See, I think we miss out on what it means to known and loved by God. See this is what David says about God’s work:

Psalm 139:13 NIV

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

God, you created me with your hands. You put me together. Not anyone else. So if anyone knows who I am it’s you. So God knows how cool you are, He knows how nice you are to people, He sees how hard you try to behave at school and in the cottage. God sees how hard you work and how much effort you put in in all of the things you do.

But He also sees when you are not so nice, or not so cool. God also sees when you are being lazy or being mean to others. God knows when you are in a good place and when you are in a bad place. Just like Joseph was when he was in jail. And although God knows us, He does not choose to abandon us.

God is with us in all moments of our lives. Whether good or bad. Isn’t that good to know? That regardless of where I am or what I do, God will always be with us?

I don’t want to be surrounded by a God who only wants to be with me when things are good. Do you have friends like that? Friends that are only your friends because you have money, or because your cool? Or this person is only your friend because you have something they need, but the moment you don’t need it anymore, that friend leaves you?

God is not that friend. God is a God that will always be with you no matter what. Just like He was with Joseph.

Let’s play a game and then have some discussion questions:

4-6 volunteers for SOUND EFFECTS

6 sound effects:

CHICKEN

CAR

ELEPHANT

TRUMPET

CELL PHONE

HELICOPTER

Discussion Questions:

Have you ever had a friend that is only with you because of what you can provide? How does that make you feel?

Are there people that are only with God for what HE can provide? What happens to those people after they get what they want from God? How can we be different?

Pray, in your group, that God will continue to be with us no matter what.

Psalm 139:7 NIV

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?