Knowing who we are

Ready to rejoin Joseph? Potiphar's wife has a grip on his cloak and he has told her no again!

But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. (Genesis 39:12b)

I bet it would have been easy for Joseph to come up with an excuse to sleep with her.... they were all alone, so no one else would know, "she made me do it" (that was the truth), or maybe "everybody does it."
But Joseph had a rock-solid foundation; he knew who he was -- he belonged to God. So when he looked at his choice (he either slept with her or he faced losing his job since she would be hurt and angry) he acted quickly. Instead of any of those excuses, he told her "I've got to run." And he did.
The KJV says it differently: "He left the garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." No one else could get him out of trouble, so he did! And it is pretty obvious that he had made up his mind in advance, too. When temptation comes to us, we need to move fast. There's a time to talk, and there's a time to stop talking and get out of trouble.
We know the verse that promises God will make a "way out" for us -- He doesn't have to offer us two or three choices! Take the way out when it's offered!

Now, Joseph acted fast, and then Potiphar's wife, does, too.....she wasn't too happy. In fact, a woman scorned is not to be messed with, right? (Grin) She acts very quickly to make a false accusation - in essence, she accuses Joseph of attempted rape. She sounds even angrier since she calls him "this Hebrew" in verse fifteen....sounds kinda racist, but her accusation sounds plausible to everyone, because she has Joseph's coat in her hand.
Potiphar acted quickly, too, in fact the Bible says that when he heard the story, Potiphar's anger burned. He was pretty upset. So he had Joseph thrown in to jail with the common criminals.
Wow.
How can this have happened? Well, the world cannot understand a believer with convictions. If you have strongly-held principles, unbelievers may not understand. Joseph knew who he was, and he acted on his convictions. His reward? A quick trip to jail. Do not pass go. Do not expect a get out of jail card to work here....
So, the good news is, when we know we are children of God, we can stand up to temptation. The bad news is, we may not be very popular doing it! After all, the world hated our Savior and crucified him, so why should we expect a bed of roses?
Here's the awesome part, though: when we do right, God will honor us. Let's look back at Genesis:

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:20b-23)

So at the first, Joseph may be in a filthy pit, and he may be chained up. Because he has been faithful to his identity, as a child of God, he has lost his job and his freedom. But I would venture a guess that he's not lost his reputation, nor the air of confidence that comes from doing what God has planned for us. We'll see that in a minute...
Joseph's story proves that God honors those who have the courage to say no, to stand up for Him. It might not look that way at first. Things might not work out just the way we'd like for them to. But when we have the courage of knowing who we are, and we say "no" to temptation, God will take care of the details. (Remember last week? Why were we born? We were born to live for Him, and He will take care of the details!) It's always better to do things right....some people live in a prison of their own making. They toss and turn at night and during the day, they are constantly trying to make sure their evil ways are not discovered. It's better to do right and sleep well, don'tcha think?

Back to our story..... it says that the warden saw that "the Lord was with him." That confidence Joseph had, because he knew who he was, and his reputation as a trusted overseer of Potiphar's household and estate.....that must have influenced the warden to turn over all of the responsibilities to Joseph. He was in charge of the prisoners. He was in charge of all that went on there. Even in the prison, Joseph prospers because the Lord blesses him with success.
How did Joseph know how to say no?
He knew who he was. Even though he was a young person, the issue was settled; he belonged to God. The decision was easier because of his identity.
If we are going to win over temptation, we must also say no. When someone tempts us to do wrong, we should just say no. When Satan whispers to us, "Everyone is doing it!" just remember who we are, and say no. When our minds play tricks on us and tell us that no one will see, we need to remember that He sees everything we do -- and then take a deep breath, leave our coat behind if necessary, and run!
Are we down and out?
Are we up against the wall?
Is nothing going right?
Are we so hopelessly entangled and depressed that we can't see a way out of the mess? Does it look like a sinful action is our only option?
Before we say something we should not say -- or do something we should not do -- remember that God loves us, count our blessings, and then say no!
It's a very simple question: do we know who we are?
Sure, you say, I'm a Christian.
If you know that, you can serve Christ anywhere.

Next week, Joseph is going to meet some interesting people. Hope you will study along with us!