Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 5, No. 26
“The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Gen 39:2-5NIV)
Evidently, from what we see in Scriptures, Joseph was a highly competent young man when it comes to administration and management, whether of people or of things. But it was not his competence that took him to the top everywhere he found himself; it was God’s favour.
As we see in our opening bible text, when his master saw his competence and success in handling whatever was committed into his hands, Joseph found favour in his eyes. Therefore, he promoted him, made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his whole household. But do you know that Joseph’s master may as well have ignored the competence he saw in him? Do you know that he could as well have considered his competence to be a threat to his own position as the master of that house?
See, it is not everyone that is comfortable with having competent people around them. There are people that feel threatened when they have a wise and competent subordinate or colleague around them. They see them as a threat to their current position or future position. So, they become jealous and start considering how they may pull them down or how they can show everyone that they are overrated.
Remember the story of King Saul and David. Remember that even though David killed Goliath and saved the nation of Israel on one occasion, King Saul never wholeheartedly accepted him as a loyal servant. Why? It was because he was not comfortable with his competence and the fact that God was with him everywhere he went. He was not comfortable at all with the fact that the young man might just become the next king, just by watching the way he was rising in the army and becoming more and more popular among the people. (Cf. 1Sam 17&18)
So, even though he promoted David and gave him a high rank in the army, he did it reluctantly. He did it because he had no choice, for the bible tells us that all his officers and the people of Israel loved the young man because of his competence and because he fought and won their battles for them. Then, even though he made him his in-law by giving him one of his daughters, it was not because he loved and cherished him as one of his loyal men. Rather, it was because he wanted the girl to be a trap that he would use in catching and killing him.
In any case, when he could no longer bear the thought of David becoming his successor, he, in his jealousy, began to deploy all the resources at his disposal to hunt him down at every given chance in order to kill him. If David, then, had not found favour in the sight of God, he would have perished at some point in the hands of this wicked and jealous king.
Therefore, the fact that you are competent does not mean that the people that matter where you are and who, to some extent, can decide how high you rise in life or how far you go in life will respect and appreciate you. They may not at all. Instead, they may be the ones that Satan will use to prey upon your very life. This is why you need to find favour in their eyes, even though they are wicked and unreasonable. And God can make that happen.
How reasonable and kind was Potiphar? We would not know, for we are not told in the bible. But we are told that Joseph found favour in his eyes. So, even though he was a total stranger to him and not an Egyptian, he kept on promoting him until he put him charge of his whole household. And how reasonable and kind was the prison warden that this young man met in the prison, having been shamefully treated by Potiphar’s wife? We are not told in the bible. But we are told that God caused Joseph to find favour in his eyes, so much so that the man recognised his abilities and put him in charge of the entire prison facility and all that was going on there. (Cf. Gen 39)
Also, we are not told how reasonable and kind the Pharaoh of Joseph’s days was. I suspect that he must have been a highly reasonable and kind man. But then, it would take more than being reasonable and kind to make a total stranger, one just coming out from the prison, your second-in-command and ruler over your entire nation. All the odds were against Joseph in that situation. But because God’s favour was working for him, Pharaoh and his officials did not see anything wrong with putting a man with such great competence over their entire nation, even though he was not a native. (Cf. Gen 41)
So, if there is anything you need more than competence to keep rising in life, it is God’s favour. It is good to be competent. And you should labour to be known and seen as a very competent person in whatever field you are working. But competence without God’s favour will never leave its prison room. So, crave His favour. Receive His favour. And whatever abilities you have will begin to shine forth and open doors of greatness for you.