by Hamilton
Smith

The history of Joseph’s
sufferings is rich with practical instruction for God’s children. First, we see
that Joseph was a submissive man. His circumstances were difficult and his
position trying. Cut off from his family, a stranger in a foreign land, he had
passed from the love of his father’s home to the bondage of the Egyptian’s
house; yet there was no complaining. He harbored no bitter thoughts against his
brethren, uttered no complaints as to his hard lot, nor a single rebellious
word against the ways of God. His spirit was kept in beautiful submission. God
had revealed to him his high destiny (Gen. 37:5-10), and faith, resting in
quiet confidence in God’s word, looked on with clear vision to the glorious end
(see 2 Cor. 4:17,18). Faith kept God and His word between himself and his
circumstances. In the path of God’s purpose he submitted to God’s ways. So the
Apostle Paul, another prisoner of the Lord in another day, in like spirit of
submission, wrote from prison, "The things that happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Phil. 1:12).

As a result, "the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous
man" (Gen. 39:2). The submissive man will ever be a prosperous man. Human
reasoning would say that slavery and prosperity must be an impossible
combination, but if we submit to His ways, the presence of the LORD can turn days of adversity into days of
prosperity. The whole world would admit that Joseph was a prosperous man in the
day of his exaltation; but faith sees, and God declares, that he was a
prosperous man in the day of his humiliation as well. He would, in due time,
ride prosperously as the ruler of Egypt, but first he must live prosperously as
the slave of an Egyptian. The prosperity of the prison must precede the
prosperity of the palace. The trials and the sorrows, the losses and the
crosses, the rough ways and the dark valleys, will all become occasions of the
greatest soul prosperity if we remember that God has a settled purpose for us
in glory, and in the meantime all His ways with us are in view of His purpose
for us. In the light of His purpose we shall be able to submit to His ways, and
submitting we shall find the Lord with us. If the Lord is with us we shall
prosper with that prosperity that is above all—the prosperity of the soul.
"Beloved," says the aged Apostle, "I wish above all things that
you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers" (3 John 2).

Moreover, being a prosperous man,
Joseph became a witness for the LORD in
the house of bondage. We read, "His master saw that the LORD was with him" (Gen. 39:3). His
testimony, too, was the testimony of his life rather than his lips. Potiphar
was impressed by what he "saw" rather than by what he heard.
"His master saw that the LORD was
with him, and that the LORD made all that
he did to prosper in his hand." Had Joseph been forever complaining of his
hard lot, or enlarging upon his high destiny, he would have been no witness for
the LORD in the house of Potiphar. The
Egyptian cared nothing about his past and would comprehend nothing of his
future; but Joseph’s daily life of wholehearted attention to his duties
Potiphar could see and appreciate. Nor is it otherwise today. For a Christian
employee to be often grumbling at his lot before his unconverted employer, and
saying that the day is coming when he will judge the world and even angels,
would be wholly out of place. To an unconverted employer it would not only be
the wildest folly but also the grossest impertinence. But to see a Christian
employee living a quiet, consistent, uncomplaining life in the faithful
discharge of daily duties is indeed a true witness for the Lord, and is
something that the unconverted employer can appreciate.

The result of Joseph’s faithful,
submissive service was that he "found grace in [Potiphar’s] sight … and
he made him overseer over his house" (verse 4). The result of this, in
turn, was that "the LORD blessed the
Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake" (verse 5). In the measure that we
yield ourselves, our lives, our all, to the supremacy of Christ, we too shall
be blessed, even as the world will be blessed when it submits to His universal
sway.

(From Joseph:Revealer of
Secrets and Saviour of the World, published by Gospel Folio Press, Grand
Rapids, Michigan.)