Yesterday, at Institute, we learned about Joseph who was sold into Egypt. To make his story "come to life," so to speak, not only did we read the scriptural account, but we also watched a movie that showed the events we were reading about. I'm glad we did, because the movie emphasizes something that must have been true, but could have been very easily missed if one was only reading the scriptural account.
In the Bible, we read "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, ...And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand." (Genesis 39: 2-3)
Joseph, despite being in unfortunate circumstances, was blessed and prospered by the Lord. From this, we may guess that Joseph was faithful to the Lord, despite his difficult circumstances, and was thus blessed and prospered. The video we saw showed how difficult and unpopular that faithfulness may have been.
The movie showed Joseph in the slave market, where he was advertised to Potifar, an Egyptian, as being very submissive and quiet. "He only ever opens his mouth to pray," the slaver said. Potifar asked which gods Joseph prayed to, and Joseph answered, only one. Then Potifar said something to the effect of "to only have one God to pray to, the boy must be very poor indeed." Everyone chuckled at that, except Joseph, who said that his one God provided all of his needs. But Potifar pointed out that, given that he was being sold into slavery, his God didn't seem to be doing a great job of helping him, and again, everyone but Joseph got a good laugh out of that. But because Potifar found Joseph amusing, he bought him, and later discovered that his God was, indeed, blessing him.
Of course, that was just a cinematic depiction. It probably didn't happen much like that. But Joseph was thrown into a situation where he could have felt that God had abandoned him, and he was taken to a land everyone worship other gods, but it would seem that Joseph stayed true to his own, and everyone knows the story about how Joseph, after being greatly prospered by the Lord, was tempted to Potifar's wife to lie with him, but he refused, saying, after God had blessed him so much "how then can I do the great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39: 9)
But Potifar's wife didn't take no for an answer. We didn't watch this part of the movie, thankfully, but the scriptures tell us "And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her." (Genesis 39: 10)
What I took most out of this lesson was not just that we need to resist temptations and stay faithful to the Lord, but that we need to resist temptations repeatedly, and stay faithful to the Lord, no matter what our challenges or circumstances are. Joseph taught me a lesson, not only in faithfulness, but in enduring faithfulness.
Diligence and enduring to the end are a lot easier said than done. It's always possible to resist the temptations we face, but when they refuse to be repelled for long, they tend to wear us down, and I think that, if we're not careful, repeated temptations can wear down and then break through our defenses, successfully enticing us to commit sin. So what can we do about that? We can't stop the temptations from coming. We can repel them, one at a time, but each time, it takes some of our moral strength to repel them, and eventually, our moral strength may give out. What we need is a way that we can regularly improve our moral defenses - a way that we can build up our fortress faster than repeated temptations and constant hardships tear them down.
The scriptures don't tell us what Joseph did to keep his spiritual defenses strong, unless "and he was a prosperous man" referred to his diligence. I've heard that good hard work is good for the body, mind, and soul of whoever does it. Perhaps Joseph's physical diligence helped him maintain his spiritual defenses.
For more advice, I'd turn to the good old seminary answers: read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to church. Joseph didn't have access to church or scriptures, but I bet he kept praying. The movie suggested that he did. I don't know what else Joseph might have done to keep his armor strong, but whatever he did, it worked.
In our day, we have similar challenges (but in much less desperate circumstances). We each have our own version of Potifar's wife, tempting us frequently, perhaps daily, perhaps multiple times per day. We all have a need to stay faithful to the Lord, despite many frequently repeated temptations to transgress. In order to repel those repeat temptations, we need to continually strengthen our defenses, to continually put on the Armor of God. Even that can't guarantee our safety, but I'm sure that if we do all we can, which includes asking God to help us, then whether we ultimately succeed or not, God will be pleased with our efforts and He will be with us.
I hope that we may all continually improve our spiritual defenses and stay faithful to the Lord to the end.
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