Hi there! I hope you've had a good night rest.
Here's your devotional text for Wednesday, December 13.

 

Fast forward at least 500 years after Job, we dive into the story of a young boy who had multiple traumatic experiences as a young adult. He was his daddy’s favorite child. This favoritism slowly but steadily destroyed the peace of the family. The young boy became overbearing and exacting, and his older siblings got jealous and angry.

 

The tension resulted in an atrocious act of domestic violence. Joseph’s brothers were planning to murder their brother but then decided to sell him into slavery. At the age of 17, Joseph became the victim of human trafficking and was sold into Egypt.

 

Imagine you’re in a van, kidnapped and bound, not knowing if you will ever see your family or home again. Through the small windows of the vehicle, you can dimly see the border of your home state. You are crying and thinking about your parents, who will be lonely and depressed without you. Again and again, you’re thinking about those last few moments before the abduction. You still see your brothers’ ferocious looks. Yesterday, you were a spoiled teenager in a wealthy home. Tomorrow, you are going to be a slave in a foreign country. You’re bursting out in tears.

 

But the van keeps driving. And after a few hours, you calm down. You think about your dad’s God… The One he had always told you stories about. You remember that your dad, Jacob, was also a foreigner; he also had to flee, but God cared for him. Angels had come to instruct, comfort, and protect him. You remember that your dad told you about a coming Redeemer who would take away the sins of this world. All of a sudden, it clicks. You realize that your dad’s God can also be your God. After all, if God saved Jacob from the mess he was in, couldn’t God also save me? And so, in that vehicle, you pray a prayer of consecration to the LORD… you dedicate your life to Him.

 

This was Joseph’s experience. He learned more in a few hours than he would have learned in a dozen years. He made the God of his father his own God and went through his own conversion experience.

 

 

Study Genesis 39:1. Who was Potiphar? How was he living his life? Think about his family, his home, his religion, his status, his job, and his daily life. Now, picture Joseph in there. Do you think it was easy or hard for Joseph to live there and work for them? Why (not)? What made it easy/hard?

 

Study Genesis 39:2-3. What made Joseph’s work so prosperous? Why was God with him? In what ways did Potiphar see that God was with Joseph?

 

When you get mistreated, and you find yourselves in a situation without escape, what options do you have, according to this passage? Is it worth trying to imitate Joseph’s example, even if we don’t get the guarantee of success and blessings later? Why (not)? Remember verse 3.