God made a covenant with Abraham, a promise that his descendants would be the people of God, occupy the land of Canaan, and become a blessing to all the world. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and the promise continued through Isaac. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and even though Esau was the oldest, the promise continued through Jacob.
Jacob ended up having twelve sons. Remember the problems caused by Isaac and Rebekah having favorite children? Well, Jacob didn’t seem to learn this lesson. Of all his sons, Joseph was the clear favorite of Jacob. One day he gave Joseph an amazing technicolor dream coat, a robe of many colors. This caused extreme jealousy on the part of the other sons. To top it off, Joseph told his brothers about dreams he had where the brothers bowed down to him.
We thought Jacob and Esau had some bad sibling rivalry going on, but they were nothing compared to Joseph and his brothers. The brothers hated Joseph so much that one day when Joseph was 17 years old, his brothers set out to kill him and throw his body into a pit where no one would find him.
About that time, a caravan came by on its way to Egypt. Instead of killing Joseph, they sold him to the folks in the caravan and into a life of slavery. Then they killed a goat, dipped the famous robe in the blood, and told their father that they had found the bloody robe and that a wild animal must have attacked Joseph. Can you imagine telling that lie to your father? Can you imagine hearing that about your son?
So Joseph goes from being the favorite son of a wealthy and powerful man to a slave in Egypt. He went from the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel very quickly. I’m sure he felt completely abandoned and alone, but he was not alone:
The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39:2)
God was with Joseph the whole time, and he’s always with you as well, no matter what’s going on around you, and regardless of whether you feel his presence.
Joseph became the slave of an Egyptian man named Potiphar. Things were going great until one day when Potiphar’s wife made advances on Joseph, and he rejected her. Infuriated at his rejection, Mrs. Potiphar claimed that Joseph assaulted her, so Potiphar had him thrown into prison.
First a slave, now a prisoner. Joseph was trying to do the right thing when it came to Mrs. Potiphar. He was trying to honor God, but all it got him was prison. For thirteen years, Joseph was a slave and a prisoner. I imagine there were many times during these thirteen years that Joseph felt abandoned by everyone he knew, including God.
Have you ever felt that way? When things are falling apart around you, have you ever wondered if God has abandoned you? When things are going great, when your family is healthy, you have a great job, the stock market’s up, your pantry is full, it’s easy to recognize God’s presence with you.
But what about the bad days? When life stinks, when there’s an illness, you lose your job, the stock market crashes, and your pantry is empty, do you sometimes wonder if God’s even there? Where is God in the heartache?
God is right there with you in the heartache:
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. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 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. (Genesis 39:20-22)
Every time Joseph’s life takes a turn for the worse, the Bible reminds us that God is with him. At no time during this entire ordeal was Joseph ever alone. Neither are you alone.
Way before Chick-fil-a started using the cow as their mascot, there was Doodles the Chicken. And one of our children was scared to death of Doodles. This child, if we were in the store and Doodles came out, would scream bloody murder. I mean ear-piercing screams of sheer terror. And I would say, “It’s okay, Daddy’s with you.” Yeah, that didn’t help at all.
I’m the same way about clowns. I really don’t like clowns. Several years ago I was out with my parents, and a clown came up to us. I got the heebie-jeebies and was starting to hyperventilate, and my dad said, “Son, it’s okay, Daddy’s with you.” And I said, “Dad, you’re like 65 years old and I’m 40, how is the fact that you’re here supposed to help?”
When you understand that the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, promise-keeping God is with you, it will help. It will change everything.
Look back at your life. Think about those struggles you went through where you can see now that God was with you and never left you. Remember those times that make you pause now and say, “You know, I don’t know that I would have survived those days without God with me, taking care of me.” God was with you. He still is.
No matter what battle you’re facing, if you’re a believer, you have this promise:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Jesus, Matthew 28:20)
When the bottom falls out, when life feels like it’s falling apart, know that as a believer, your Savior is always with you. Always.