"How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

The theme for this week is: “How can I do this Great Wickedness?” This quote is from Joseph when Potiphar’s wife tempted him to lie with her. I’ll get to that later.

I am constantly amazed at how different my children are, the first two especially. I’m sure that Jacob and his wives were even more amazed since they had twelve! Joseph, Jacob’s second to the youngest, was of such a character that he was the favorite of his father. We do not know exactly the individual characters of his brothers, but they were angry enough to conspire against him when Joseph told them that they would someday bow down to him as was shown in his dreams.

Here is what happens to Joseph: he it thrown in a pit by his brothers (after being persuaded not to kill him), sold into Egyptian slavery, was supposed dead by his father, was a profitable slave to Potiphar, but because of his goodness Potiphar’s was attracted to him and wanted him to lie with her. He refused and Potiphar’s wife exacted revenge by framing him and he is jailed.

Here are the good things: Joseph’s progress toward dream fulfillment begins because his brothers hate him and sell him into slavery. Because Joseph lives with the Lord in his life, he is protected and blessed in his circumstances: he becomes trusted by Potiphar, he is responsible for more that he could have been at home, he is respected by all around him. While in jail, the Lord remained with him (meaning Joseph continued to live as he should in rotten circumstances), and was looked upon kindly by the jail keeper.

So, here is what I thought of through this week’s reading: all good doesn’t come from only living a virtuous life. Good comes from making what you can of your life and the influence others have on you. Did the Lord WANT Joseph to be hated by his brothers? Did the Lord want Potiphar’s wife to frame him? The Lord is not the author of sin, so He wouldn’t create those circumstances, but those circumstances don’t need a creator, they just happen because we are a fallen people, subject to the symptoms of humanity. Hard and hurtful things happen because of other people’s choices and those things may change our lives. But if we live so that the Lord is with us, we will prosper in one way or another. So, the key is not asking, “Why does the Lord allow this to happen? Or Why did the Lord do this to me?” (though there is some value in asking those questions, focusing on the questions only will stunt growth, living to find answers will bring understanding). But asking like Joseph, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” or “How can I remain in faithfulness with God?” and then act according to promptings.