Passage: Genesis 39:1-6

The Big Idea

Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, yet “the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.” Why was he blessed? Because he lived as a child of God, trusting his Father’s heart even in chains. He didn’t wait to be freed from trials; he found freedom in them. As Andrew Murray put it, Father-like giving is the divine response to childlike living. When we humbly depend on our heavenly Father and ask, He delights to answer, and others see that God is with us.

Sold, but Not Forgotten (Genesis 39:1-2)

Joseph was taken to Egypt and bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man in his master’s house.

Joseph went to Egypt at seventeen in chains of iron. He’d one day wear a chain of gold as second in command in Egypt, with family, wealth and security restored (Genesis 41:42).
Why was he blessed? He saw himself as a child and servant of God:
He didn’t let his circumstances get him down.
He didn’t let his flesh say, “You deserve a break; be lazy, be depressed.”
He didn’t let his heart distrust the Lord’s plan.
He simply considered himself the Lord’s servant.

That’s where freedom in trouble is found. Not freedom from trials, but freedom in them.

Paul says that having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, we bear fruit leading to holiness and eternal life (Romans 6:22).

When we come to Jesus by faith, we’re freed from sin: from rebellion, our way instead of His, our kingdom instead of His.
And we become servants of God, turning control over to a loving Father.
But more than servants, we become sons and daughters. We learn to live, not by works, but as children: trusting the Father and staying close to Him. Joseph was a wonderful son.

Others Will Notice

When you live as God’s servant and child, other people notice.

Nebuchadnezzar called Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego “servants of the Most High God” as they walked out of the fire (Daniel 3:26).
Darius cried out at the lions’ den, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you?” (Daniel 6:20)

Your trials can be a witness when you serve God in them. Serving God may even bring more trials. Sometimes the only way to reach the hard-hearted people in your life is for them to watch you trust your Father through the fire.

Is God able, and is He willing?

God wants to be the Father who cares for His children. Jesus gave three pictures:

If your son asks for bread, will you give him a stone? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:9-11)! God wants to give us good things.
Everyone who asks receives. How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:10-13)! God wants to give us His Spirit.
Consider the ravens: God feeds them. If God clothes the grass, how much more will He clothe you (Luke 12:24-28)? It’s not His ability that’s really in question. It’s His heart.

Do you trust the heart of your Father? That He’s watching out for you, loves you, and will provide everything you need?

Andrew Murray wrote:

And what is the true child-life? The answer can be found in any home. The child that by preference forsakes the father’s house, that finds no pleasure in the presence and love and obedience of the father, and still thinks to ask and obtain what he will, will surely be disappointed. On the contrary, he to whom the fellowship and will and honour and love of the father are the joy of his life, will find that it is the father’s joy to grant his requests… And he will find that Father-like giving is the Divine response to childlike living.

Successful Where He Was Planted (Genesis 39:3-6)

Potiphar saw that the LORD was with Joseph and made everything he did succeed. Joseph found favor, and Potiphar put him in charge of his whole household. From then on, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph, in the house and in the field. Potiphar left everything in Joseph’s care and didn’t concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

When you live as God’s child, it becomes unmistakable to people around you.
God wants your life to be a picture of His Father’s heart, so others can be adopted into His family too. Your life isn’t just about you.

“But Joseph was still a slave! How is that fair?” Yes, your life may feel like one long trial. But you can still be successful as God measures success.

As one commentator has observed, we often complain that God put us in a terrible place, when His will is that we trust Him to bless us right where we are.

God makes you successful. He places you in your job, your family and your friendships, and He can make you fruitful in each as you trust and abide.

I’m just a servant of God here: at home, at work, with my friends, in sickness and sorrow.

Joseph didn’t give up on serving God because of his situation. He trusted that God had put him there and was with him, and that serving the Lord was worth it. The best way to serve the Lord was by serving the people around him. And God showed up and blessed everything Joseph touched.

Does it ever feel like nothing you touch works? When you let God be your Father, He can turn that around. How? Through prayer.

The Prayers of a Child

God answers the prayers of childlike faith. Not “Get me out of here,” but:

“Lord, use me and help me serve well in this situation. I trust You here.”
“Help me honor You in this marriage.”
“Help me serve my boss.”
“Help me love my kids and be patient with them.”
“Help me be who You want me to be, where You’ve put me. My life is Yours.”

God isn’t in heaven reluctant to answer prayer. He’s longing to answer! If there’s a “formula,” it’s this: the Father answers the prayer of His child.

Missionary history is full of simple examples:

James Gilmour, a missionary to Mongolia with only basic first-aid knowledge, was asked to treat a soldier with a badly broken thigh. He knelt and asked God for help. Soon a group of beggars came by, and one was so thin he was practically a walking skeleton. Gilmour realized God had sent him an anatomy lesson, carefully traced the man’s thigh bone, and went back and set the soldier’s leg.
Helen Roseveare, serving in Congo, told of a mother who died giving birth, leaving a premature baby and a grieving toddler. They had no working hot water bottle to keep the baby warm. A little girl at the orphanage prayed boldly for God to send a hot water bottle that very day, and a doll for the sister. That afternoon a package arrived that had been mailed months earlier. Inside was a hot water bottle, and beneath it, a doll.
F. B. Meyer once spoke about answered prayer to passengers on an ocean liner. A skeptic, joking around, dropped two oranges into the open hands of an elderly woman asleep on deck. Later she told him she’d been seasick for days and had prayed for an orange, and her Father had sent two! The story goes that the man later came to faith in Christ.

Because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So we are no longer slaves but sons, and heirs through Christ (Galatians 4:6-7).

We have the Spirit of the Son in our hearts, moving us to live as children.
Humble dependence on our Father.
Hearts that long for Him.
Spirits satisfied with pleasing Him.

So ask your Father for help!

Andrew Murray also warned against simply giving up when an answer doesn’t come:

If no answer comes, we are not to sit down in the sloth that calls itself resignation, and suppose that it is not God’s will to give an answer. No; there must be something in the prayer that is not as God would have it, childlike and believing; we must seek for grace to pray so that the answer may come. It is far easier to the flesh to submit without the answer than to yield itself to be searched and purified by the Spirit, until it has learnt to pray the prayer of faith.

Grace Takeaway

Joseph was a slave in a foreign land, and yet he was the most free man in Egypt, because he lived as a child of a good Father. You can live that way too, right where you are. Trust your Father’s heart, serve the people He’s placed around you, and ask Him for what you need. Father-like giving is still God’s answer to childlike living.

For Discussion

Tell about your family growing up. What are your best memories? Your hardest? Was your father an influence in your life? How?
If your heavenly Father ran a business, what would it be? What would your role be?
Why do you think Joseph was blessed wherever he went?
Do you see yourself as simply a servant of God? What keeps that from being true in your heart?
Would you say God answers your prayers? Can you remember specific examples, yes or no?
Dig deeper: answered prayer. Read Matthew 7:7-8 and James 4:3.
– Why do you think Jesus repeats almost the same phrase six times?
– What’s the difference between asking, seeking and knocking?
– Should we be content when prayers aren’t answered? If we don’t receive, what might be the problem, and what should we do?

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The True Child Life