The Lord Was With Joseph

The Come, Follow Me manual says this as a summary of the passages about Joseph in Egypt this week: “We know that God blesses people who trust Him and keep His commandments. But sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. Sometimes the person who trusts God is abused and abandoned by family members…. Joseph, the son of Jacob, could have wondered that. At times, this faithful man prospered; at other times, it seemed that the more faithful he was, the more hardship he faced. But Joseph never left the Lord, and the Lord never left Joseph. That doesn’t mean the Lord prevented bad things from happening to Joseph, but through it all, ‘the Lord was with him’ (Genesis 39:3).” Joseph was nearly killed by his brothers and then sold as a slave to Egypt, he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife which got him thrown in jail, and he was forgotten by the butler whom he helped. Though he was righteous and faithful, up to that point things never seemed to go his way. And yet, as this summary reminds us, “the Lord was with Joseph,” and that was more important than any temporal blessing that he could have wanted. I don’t think that Joseph was miserable in Potiphar’s house or in prison; rather, he stayed close to the Lord no matter what his circumstances were. When these trials were over, he showed the perspective he had on it all when he said to his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Genesis 45:7-8). Since he was always doing what he could to stay close to the Lord, he accepted with faith that wherever the Lord sent him, it was where he was supposed to be. And through that faith, he was able to do an incredible work for the salvation of his family.

               Joseph’s experience is consistent with the teachings of Paul about afflictions for the Saints. He wrote to them in Thessalonica: “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know” (1 Thessalonians 3:3-4). In other words, Paul knew that afflictions for these faithful Saints were not an indication that something was wrong in the eternal scheme of things; rather, he was confident that afflictions were supposed to come upon them despite their faithfulness. Luke described another occasion after Paul was stoned how he continued to preach, “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). There is no other way into the kingdom of God; we will have to pass through tribulation. The Lord said of James Covel in our dispensation when he abandoned the path of the restored gospel: “He received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the world caused him to reject the word” (Doctrine and Covenants 40:2). He became afraid of persecution, and to some extent that was a legitimate fear—there would be much persecution. But Paul, on the other hand, had no fear of it because he understood it to be part of the life of a follower of the Savior. As he traveled to Jerusalem after multiple missions, he declared, “I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24). Like it was for Joseph, Paul had the assurance that the Savior was with him no matter what the trials were that came. The Lord had said to him in a vision, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” (Acts 18:9-10). Later when he was in prison, the Lord came to him again saying, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11). The Lord was with Paul and Joseph despite their numerous tribulations, and He will be with all His Saints who trust in Him no matter what challenges come.