Don’t get too comfortable | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: May 22, 2024 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 7, No. 2

“So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”” (Gen 39:6-7NIV)

Who left everything he had in Joseph’s care? It was his master, Potiphar. And why did he leave everything he had in his care? As the account shows us, it was because he prospered in everything he did. And why did he prosper in all that he did? It was because he took advantage of God’s presence in his life. If we too will learn to take advantage of the presence of God in our lives, we will see ourselves prospering in everything we do.

See, God’s presence in our lives will not automatically produce success in every area of our lives. We will have to learn to take advantage of it by walking in its consciousness. In other words, we will have to teach ourselves to handle every business, every challenge and every opportunity of life with the consciousness that God is with us and is able to make us victorious. This is what will drive us to meditate on His word and His power and to pray to Him for whatever we need.

Well, because Joseph learnt to take God’s presence with him seriously, he prospered in all that he did. And because he prospered in all that he did, he was made the manager of Potiphar’s household. But remember that he started in that man’s house as nothing but a seventeen-year old slave. He started with nothing to his credit. Yet, in very few years, he rose to be the overseer of his master’s household. Yes, in very few years, he rose to a place where he could have whatever form of enjoyment that was possible in Potiphar’s house.

Now it is natural for someone to become comfortable in that kind of situation and begin to think that he has eventually arrived. But can we say that Joseph had actually arrived, having become the manager of Potiphar’s household? No! Yes, he was the manager of the man’s household. But he was not a free man. He was still the man’s slave. And unless something opened his eyes to that reality, he may totally forget that God’s purpose for him in life was beyond living as an exalted or glorified slave.

Well, something eventually opened Joseph’s eyes to this reality. But it was not something pleasant at all. What was it, anyway? As we see in our opening bible text, it was the infatuation of his master’s wife. The woman, at some point, just became obsessed with the thought of having something with him. And his stubborn refusal to have anything to do with her later landed him in the prison. (Cf. Gen 39)

Now the question is, “Would Joseph have been thrown into the prison the way he was, if he had been a free man?” Not likely! There would first of all have been a fair and proper trial. That means he would have the privilege of speaking for himself. Also, witnesses, if there were any, would have been called in to testify. And if everything well, the judges in the land would have gotten to the root of the matter and exonerated him.

But he was not a free man in Egypt. He was a slave. Yes, he was a glorified slave. He was a slave, nonetheless. And as a slave, whatever right he had was what his master gave him. So, if his master decided to take away his right to live or exist, there was nothing he could do about it.

Thankfully, the man spared his life and simply imprisoned him. And interestingly, he was exalted again in the prison. He was made the chief prisoner by the prison warden and put in charge of everything going on there. But this time around, he did not allow himself to get too comfortable at all with that position. Instead, when he had an opportunity to make friends with a man that could help him get out, he did not lose or waste it at all. And though the man initially forgot him, it was still through him that God set him free and lifted him up to the place He had always wanted him to occupy in life. (Cf. Gen 39-41)

What is the point of all this? It is that you must not get too comfortable wherever you are, as long as the place is not the highest height God wants you to attain in life. Also, don’t get too comfortable with what God has not given to you permanently, regardless of the privileges or benefits it may now be offering you. That is because just one incident may take away from you those privileges or benefits. What, then, will become of you, if that should happen?

For example, there have been people whose lives were terrible messed up or who lost their minds because they lost certain well-paying jobs or because they were demoted in their workplaces or because certain people who used to support them stopped doing so or because their kind-hearted landlords died and the children of those landlords changed their rent terms. And why did that happen to them? It was because they got too comfortable with something that was not meant to last forever or something that was not theirs to possess and enjoy for a lifetime.

So, while we should take every moment to enjoy everything God has put at our disposal, we should not get carried away by the moment’s enjoyment and lose sight of the reality of our position or the reality of what we truly possess and what we don’t possess. Instead, we should open eyes to see the better things around and ahead that God has prepared for us, so that we can go for them and possess them by His grace. That way, even if a Pharaoh that knows nothing about Joseph should appear on the scene of our lives, we will not be at their mercy or have our lives thrown into misery because of them (Ex 1:8-14).

God bless you.

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