Have you ever gotten in trouble because you tried to do the right thing? Joseph certainly did. Far from remaining the bratty, tattletale little brother that his brothers sold into slavery, he seems to have been chastened by his experience, becoming a responsible, respected manager (39:4). Even though he was a slave, he tried to do right by his master.

And that determination remained firm, even when his master’s wife tried to seduce him (v. 7). Joseph remained faithful to God and to his master, in spite of the unjust situation in which he was living (vv. 8-10).

But what good did his morality do him? Even though he refused to sleep with his master’s wife, she just lied and said that he had tried to rape her (v. 14). His master took her side, and had Joseph thrown into prison (v. 20).

Now, after all of this, it would have been easy for Joseph to become bitter. It would have been easy for him to dwell on his misfortunes and assume that God didn’t care about him, or even that God isn’t real – lots of people come to that conclusion, you know. Maybe that’s how you feel about God today.

But in reality, God never stopped being with Joseph. God blessed his master’s house because of his faithfulness (v. 5). And even in prison, God was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did (v. 23). Joseph wasn’t where he wanted to be, but God never abandoned him. God never gave up on him.

And God never gives up on us either, no matter where we are, and no matter what may be happening to us. As Joseph understood, God is worthy of our trust, even when we don’t understand what He’s doing in our lives.

Genesis 39:1-23

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field.
6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.
9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,
12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.
13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house,
14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”
16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home,
17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.
18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled.
20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.