(When God Shows You Favor)

Genesis 39:1-6 (KJV)

1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

VERY BRIEFLY I WANT TO REASON WITH YOU ON THE THOUGHT

(WHEN GOD SHOWS YOU FAVOR)

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

I am afraid that many of us take life too casually.

Some of us assume that everyone means right and will treat us right without any reservations.

Some of you believe that as long as we don't bother anyone, then no one will bother us.

If that is the way you feel,

I am afraid you are living in a fantasy world because there are people who will not only harm you, they will even try to destroy you.

Because Misery loves company.

When people are unstable,

unsatisfied and uncomfortable with their lives,

they will do all they can to wreck yours.

Many times they do not care how or who they destroy as long as they can be satisfied.

I was shocked when I read this episode in the life of young Joseph.

Joseph was one of Jacob's sons.

Who was brave enough to share his dreams with his brothers.

I say brave because some people will not rejoice in your dreams.

Sometimes you will do well to keep your dreams to yourself because some people will try to block your dreams.

Joseph's brothers hated him because their father favored him.

In fact, Joseph's father loved him so much that he had a coat of many colors custom tailored made just for him.

The brothers were so angry and jealous that they took Joseph out into the field, beat him up and left him in a pit for dead.

Then, they sold him to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave to a man named Potiphar

, who was over Pharaoh's security group

Potiphar had one of the top positions in Pharaoh's camp.

And We have to be careful in life because we never know into whose hands we may fall in.

We can joke and fuss that something will never happen to us,

but it can.

Although we are up today, we can easily be down tomorrow.

All may be well now, but a sick day may be on your agenda.

I have known people, who were doing well at one time, but are now living on meager fare.

You don't know how you will function with nothing, if you have been functioning with a lot.

In the text before us

Joseph was accustomed to having plenty.

He lived in royalty.

He was part of lineage of Jesus, the Christ

He came from a good bloodline,

but he was now a slave.

And As I studied Joseph,

I realized that some of us do well when we are up, but we give out when we are down.

Some of us think that God only visits palaces, but I should tell you that He does his best work when we are in the pits of life.

Because when you go to verse 2 in the text it says

"And the Lord was with Joseph."

I KNOW That sounds strange.

Joseph had been sold into slavery by his own brothers.

He was all on his own without his family.

He had lost his identity.

He no longer had servants to prepare his meals but had to eat leftovers.

Yet, the Bible says that the Lord was with him.

And the reason It sounds strange because most of us think that when the Lord is with a person, he or she will be covered with diamonds.

We expect them to ride in the best of cars,

eat the best of food,

sleep in the best of beds and be served by the best of people.