THE YEAR OF THE LORD'S FAVOR - PART 2

 Joseph was in deep trouble. His pride, immaturity and need to brag had unleashed a torrent of difficulty in his life. His brothers had become so angry with him, they conspired to kill him. At first they threw him into a pit to die but then relented and sold him to a passing group of traders. “Problem solved,” thought his brothers. “We make a little money off this deal, Joseph goes far away to Egypt, and we’ll never see him again.”

Being away from his brothers did not make things better for Joseph, however; in fact, things got worse. When the traders arrived in Egypt, they sold Joseph to a wealthy and important Egyptian and Joseph began a career as a house slave. Genesis 39:2 indicates that Joseph was successful in this role. But just when his life began to turn for the better, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison. In essence, this was the end of the line, a death sentence. Joseph was put into prison by one of the king’s closest confidants and the keys were thrown away.

The years of captivity and slavery had to be difficult for Joseph. First, he was rejected and sold into slavery by his brothers. Next, he was falsely accused and imprisoned. Prison had to be its own kind of hell. The harshness of prison life was not pleasant; none of what happened to Joseph was pleasant — but it was important.

The first brief manifestation of favor for Joseph had been when he was sold by the traders to one of Pharoah’s closest associates. Joseph was successful in managing this house but was still immature and the work of God in forming his character was not yet complete. The maturing process would continue in prison.

Being blessed with God’s favor is not a get-rich-quick scheme and it does not guarantee instant success. Favor is not an insulator against opposition and tribulation; in fact, one way of looking at favor is that it attracts opposition.

For Joseph to be the man God intended him to be, he had to grow up. I believe it was in the harshness of prison that Joseph stopped being a cocky adolescent and grew into the man God intended him to be. Before he went to prison, Joseph was an adolescent who shot off his mouth and irritated his brothers to the point they wanted to “do away with him.” When he came out of prison (we are not certain how long he was there but it was years), Joseph was a man walking in his gifting with wisdom and discretion. It is out of the rough and tumble of tribulation that maturity and character in our lives begins to take shape. These important character qualities take time to form correctly (see Romans 5:1-5).

And then we read Genesis 39:21:

“But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

God gave Joseph favor while he was still in prison! The Bible does not say he earned it or deserved it. But how can it be that in the middle of a downward spiral of trouble, God stepped in and gave Joseph a gift of mercy and favor that caused his circumstances to be improved?

It is perfectly consistent with the character and nature of God to give His favor to His children. Favor is undeserved and unmerited, but God gives it anyway. In the New Testament this is called grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works . . .” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV).

In the Old Testament we see God gracing or gifting His children with favor (Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, David, Joseph and on and on goes the list). This extending of favor was supernatural in that it often caused difficult circumstances to begin to turn for the benefit of God’s children. In Exodus 3:21 (NKJV) God said to Moses, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, you shall not go empty-handed” (also see Exodus 11:3 and 12:36).

This manifestation of favor is as much ours today as is the grace gift of new life in Christ. I believe that as God’s children we are to live in and experience His unmerited favor in all aspects of our lives, as much as Joseph experienced it in the bowels of prison. When all hope seemed to disappear with his freedom and the situation became increasingly desperate, God gave Joseph favor. Favor is a gift!

Joseph may have been immature and full of pride when he went into prison, but we have no evidence that he became unrighteous through immorality or other sin. He easily could have had sex with his employer’s wife, but Joseph knew it was wrong and did not give in. God’s promise to those who do not compromise is, “For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor)” (Psalm 5:12, AMP).