Choices

“She caught him by his coat and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house,” (Genesis 39:12).

Joseph left his coat behind but kept his character! I love this!

How many times in life do we need to sprint from a situation we find ourselves in?
Leaving some things behind.
Maybe not our coat, but leaving a seemingly good time, our curiosity, our pride, potential financial gain or even a close friend who is making poor life choices…..

The life of Joseph is a life worth studying in Scripture. There are so many lessons for our lives. When we study his life we find Joseph was the youngest in the family. When his brothers became jealous, they were vicious and sold him into slavery. We see him make the very best of the awful result of cruelty at the hands of those he is supposed to trust the most, his family.

His life choices are ones we can pattern our lives after. Even though he told his brothers about his dream of them bowing down to him (he was young and immature….and oh, by the way, it all came true), it didn’t warrant the horrible actions by his brothers! But Joseph, over and over again, makes wise decisions when he is in horrible circumstances. He worked hard and took his integrity everywhere he went. He was loyal and valued RIGHT over WRONG…even when wrong could have bought him a more luxurious life. I’m sure Potiphar’s wife would have taken good care of Joseph if he would have just compromised and slept with her. Instead, he ran and ended up falsely accused and put in prison.

Yep, he went from the palace to the prison.

If you are reading this, you may feel you are in a prison in life…maybe by your own choices or pushed in by someone else’s sin of greed, jealousy or just pure cruelty. Do not feel forsaken by God. Choose to look to HIM and value your character as a Christian and God’s reputation.

Look at what Scripture says, “But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden,” (Genesis 39:20). This was not the first time Joseph received favor from God. What we need to really see here is when we are choosing to do the right thing, even in uninvited circumstances, God sees. HE sees all. He reads hearts and minds and sees what is done in secret…temporary pleasure leads to a lifetime of pain. Giving in to greed and jealousy…God sees that too.

Joseph’s heart continued to grow toward God and God blessed him for doing RIGHT in harsh circumstances. He endured more than just one cruel life circumstance…there were multiple ones. End result? God’s favor toward Joseph was displayed through the gift of wisdom, interpreting dreams, finding favor with people who were not family but strangers. He was brought back into leadership in the palace and to multiple other life blessings, but not without pain. Joseph chose to stay true to God and himself, to protect his character, which at times cost him so much, and he endured many temptations.

He also demonstrated the ultimate in his willingness to forgive his brothers. Joseph matured so much in his faith in God through all the hardships he endured and he gave God the credit: “‘So then, it was not you [he is talking to his brothers about their actions] who sent me here, but God,’” (Genesis 45:8).

I have more to write on all that I am learning and relearning from the life of Joseph. Take a moment and read about Joseph. Just read about Joseph’s brothers. It’s not worth writing about except to make a comparison in the differences between their life choices. I am sure if you read it for yourself, you will find many differences.

Know this today:  integrity and doing the right thing is ULTIMATELY important to God, it ushers in the favor of God. Short time gain with no integrity will cost you things that money can’t buy – a good name, respect and the favor of God!

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