Genesis Chapter 39

2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder.


The Lord was with Joseph both when he was a slave in the house of Potiphar and also when he was falsely accused and imprisoned.

Sometimes, bad things happen to Christians - we or a loved one gets sick, we have marital problems, financial problems, problems with the children (or maybe we don't have children but long to have a child), job problems and so on as well as spiritual attack from the enemy (which may also take the form of illness, financial problems and so on). We may also be persecuted for our faith, depending upon where we live in the world.

Being a Christian is not necessarily easy. I can't imagine for one minute that Joseph felt good being shoved down a well by his brothers, sold into slavery, working for Potiphar, being falsely accused and then thrown into prison. Yet the bible doesn't tell us that Joseph moaned and groaned. What it does tell us is that The Lord was with Joseph. When he was dragged off to slavery, probably beaten and starved on the way, the Lord was with him. When he was made to work for Potiphar, probably starting off with the lowliest, dirtiest and most unpleasant jobs, the Lord was with him. When Potiphar's wife accused him of rape, the Lord was with him, and when he was thrown into prison, the Lord was with him. At no time was God absent from Joseph's life, even when Joseph was having a hard time.

I reckon this is the same for each one of us. When we get ill, when people close to us are in pain, when we have problems paying the bills, when the children get into trouble, when we have problems with college/school/work, when people mock and ridicule us because of our faith, the Lord is with us. In the darkest hours, our deepest needs, even when we feel so lost and alone and as if no one cares, the Lord is with us, just as he was with Joseph.

We may not have the miraculous healings, the abundance of blessings in our bank account, the promotion or job we so desperately want, top marks for that exam or homework, we may still be ridiculed despite all our prayers, but we are never, ever alone and the Lord is always, but always, with us.