Life Happens

I just read the story of Potiphar’s wife’s allegations against Joseph in Genesis 39:7-23. How many times have I read that story? Yet it is still so frightening. Joseph is falsely accused of rape. His accuser is someone whom nearly everyone will believe and those who might not believe do not dare speak out. A horrible situation. Joseph’s life had spun out of control in the blink of an eye. Since Joseph was human, he had to have thought, Doesn’t God care about me? Why would he let this happen?

He could either despair of living, take revenge (if he got the chance), or faithfully trust the Lord with whatever the days ahead brought him. The scripture tells many stories like the Potiphar narrative that do not seem very hope-filled. Nevertheless, God was at work in Joe’s life even when everything was frightening and seemed darkest—or even, perhaps, at an end. More to the point of our feelings, God was still at work in Joseph’s life, though it had to seem like he was not. Scripture assures us that God is working out things according to the mystery of his will. God will bring together to a good result all of the things that are going wrong in a life. He does this when he loves a person.

He does not shelter us from life but works for our good even in the midst of slander, loss of employment, loss of family, imprisonment, and even death. The facts of life are that we live in a corrupt world inhabited by far too many corrupt people. God does not spare his followers from living in that world but he works within the corruption, altering those he loves according to his good will, even when they are faced with tragic developments in their lives. (Romans 8:28) Therefore it is of greatest importance that we respond faithfully when “life happens” to us…even if it seems like God no longer cares.