The Lord was with Joseph

The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. – Genesis 39v2

Joseph got off to something of an inauspicious beginning. As the baby of twelve boys he was definitely a daddy’s boy. We all know the story of his ‘Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat,’ or, at least, some version of it.

The rest of the lads were jealous. Their dad had a beautiful special coat made for his little guy. Then there were the dreams. Joseph had two dreams. As he told his brothers and interpreted to them he let them know that the dreams were about them bowing down to him!

Finally they had enough. They had to get rid of the little brat. To make a long story short they ended up selling him to a passing caravan on its way to Egypt.

There – done deal. The little twerp is gone and dad thinks he is dead. A perfect solution.

But that wasn’t it. The next time we hear about Joseph he had been purchased as slave by Potiphar, a government official.

So it would appear that the story was still going badly. Daddy’s little boy was no longer in a place of comfort, but was a slave in a distant land. All alone, no family, in a strange land and alien culture. What a mess.

And yet, there is one thing that the brothers did not count on. There is one thing that should give comfort to anyone in Joseph’s situation.

‘The Lord was with Joseph…’

That makes all the difference in the world. Watch this space.