Joseph: What to do when life goes wrong
Week Two - “Refuse to be Divided”
Genesis 39
What do we do when life goes wrong?
Last week - Find the good and do the good. Optimism isn’t naive. Optimism without
This week - zeroing in on a season in Joseph’s life marked by temptation and false accusation
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!” —Genesis 39:6-7
Potiphar and his wife were ruled by their
*an appetite is a desire to satisfy a need or a want
There is a difference between having an appetite and being
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?” —Genesis 39:8-9
Joseph refused for two reasons:
1.
2.
Joseph was ruled by his
def. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, but ALSO, the state of being
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. —Genesis 39:10-12
When things went wrong for Joseph, he maintained his integrity.
His coat may have been torn, but he refused to be torn apart.
Jesus allowed himself to be torn apart, so that we could be made whole.
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it! —1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (The Message)