The Joseph Memoirs - Lessons from Potiphar's House

I'm reflecting on  my time on Potiphar's house.  A place where I thought my story had began to take a positive turn but quickly morphed, in that moment, into a nightmare. It's almost as though I jumped out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. My time in the dungeon was a battle sometimes as I tried re-living that dreadful day it all went down hill; trying to to figure out what I could have done differently. 

But from where I stand as governor today, I can see how the lessons of that season were vital to my development. One great lesson my journey to promotion has taught me, is that the destination is not what wears us out but rather the process to it. The good news is, the process is inevitable but the pain doesn't have to be.  This victory comes when we apply practical steps that give us a different perspective to the process; a positive one, for that matter. How?  I have learned that God's love for me is a strength that sustains. His love means I am not forgotten; that he is working some good through this because I am his. His love is a force that pushes me to keep going when everything within me wants to give up. I've been convinced that positioning my mind in a posture of humility (fully persuaded that God's wisdom surpasses mine) enables me to exhale with victory knowing "I will thrive." For if his ways have allowed me to be here, there is a grander scheme he is working out; and not trusting that, is rebellion to his sovereignty. 

I had to learn that then, so I could apply it today. For what many don't realize is that greater requires more. More strength, more discipline, more energy, more everything. The place of promotion comes with greater complications than what I experienced in my father's home, in slavery and in the dungeon put together. 

Ultimately every trial has strengthened me for the heavy responsibilities resting on my shoulders. I am a leader to a prejudice people that will not eat a meal with me, for I am Hebrew, and it is an abomination to them. But God has a hilarious way of mocking the foolish ways of this world. 

I also learned in his house that a Joseph must beware of this sad fact in the process of development. You will be placed where you are needed, not so  much where you need to be. You are a great asset indeed; but are easily disposable. The hand of God was seen on my life because everything I touched prospered.  But when push came to shove, and Pharaoh had the choice to defend my honor or his name, his ego won and I was hid in the dungeon to be silenced. I was celebrated as a blessings but quickly reminded I was slave, with no rights.

Falsely accused by his wife, I caution you dear reader to beware for this type of atrocity. It is sneaky, vile, and out to molest the purity of your integrity. Aware of the vulnerability of my loyalty in that place and to Potiphar, and position as a slave with no voice, she tried to entice me to fulfill her selfish desires. Beware that there will be people who will use your devotion as a foothold to exploit your character for their selfish gain. They exist in the world and in the church. Watch and pray!!!

ALWAYS choose to fear God more than man. I was taught that he is able to destroy the soul and body, where as man can only in destroy the body. Leave the robe in her hand and let her do her worst for God will exonerate you. HE ALWAYS DOES. Make it known that your loyalty is not a blinded yes but a morally powered one. 

But the most powerful lesson I walked away with was this: the principles you compromise in private will be the very ones that destroy you in public.  Power is a strong force that exposes who one is. I had to determine in Potiphar's house that no amount of temptation would beguile me to touch what was forbidden. In that private place I made a concrete decision to be a person of integrity even though it was just me and God who knew it. For in this current place of leadership, the one thing that will strip me of my accolades and promotion is to touch the matters of the throne [of which Pharaoh has forbidden me to meddle in]. I have no desire what so ever to interfere because I determined a long time ago, in the private place of my process, to handle with content only that which is entrusted to me.