Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, “ The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” Genesis 39:6-18 NASB
There is a ‘tongue in cheek’ saying that goes like this… “no good deed will go unpunished”. Over time, I’ve seen that diligence, faithfulness, and wisdom will produce good things, blessings, and prosperity, however, these can be interrupted by the selfish evil acts of others. People will take credit for your work, impugn your motives, and lie about the facts. It happened for Joseph, it will happen to you. Be ready to gracefully state the truth in a loving way, and leave the results to God.
When the “Me Too” movement began, many women were able to finally (after years of silent suffering) reveal that they had been mistreated terribly. That’s good. However, as with Joseph, the difficulty of proving the allegations becomes more and more problematic when no impartial witnesses are available due to the passage of time. And, sadly, as with Joseph, false accusations have popped up from time to time, and created even greater injustice. In this particular situation, it was the latter that occurred. A spurned woman, lied and nearly ruined the life of an innocent man. But, God would be with Joseph through it all.
What injuries from the past do I carry that affect me today? What injuries have I caused that may require forgiveness, restitution, and reconcilation?
God, as this day begins- I wonder what You have ahead. I pray that as Maureen and I team up for pre-marriage counseling, you might use our words and experiences to build up this young couple. May many gather today for worship. Please protect John MacArthur, Grace Community Church as well as Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Please thwart the efforts of local and statewide officials from meddling in matters of the church. If there is a fight ahead, help Your people, called by Your name, to live by our convictions.
