An excellent spirit

² The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, ⁴ Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. Genesis 39: 2 – 4

Joseph is a wonderful example of doing great things with God in the midst of his everyday life. As we have seen before, (Freedom from slavery - January) Joseph could have taken the view after he was sold into slavery by his brothers that life was unfair, his brothers horrible and he would do the minimum required to get by. He could have played the blame game, turned his back on God and his dreams and given up.

However we read that God was with Joseph so much so that Potiphar could see that God gave him success and was prospering him. Potiphar was an idol worshipping, respected Egyptian not given to flights of fancy.  God’s presence in and on Joseph’s life must have been both obvious and impressive to him to trust a young foreigner with the responsibility of all his affairs.

I think that the way this was evidenced was by Joseph’s excellent spirit and attitude to work which showed in a reliable, responsible, trustworthy, diligent and honest work ethic. On this framework God was able to hang favour, blessing and success.

God’s presence in our lives can also be obvious to unbelievers and our excellent attitudes to work and responsibilities can also be like a framework that God hangs his blessings on. Joseph did great things as a slave which laid a foundation for the fulfilment of his dreams. We too can do great things by our excellent attitudes in our everyday lives which will lay a foundation for the fulfilment of our dreams too.

However can you also imagine the difference it would make to our nations if the Christians had the same excellent spirit in their workplaces; schools, shops, businesses, government, hospitals and so on. All these places would be blessed by the Christians working there and so would our nations. Joseph had a profound effect on Egypt and I believe Christians can and should affect their nations as well.

Spiritual thermostats

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might Ecclesiastes 9: 10

An unfortunate side effect of doing great things with God rather than for God can be a tendency to sit around waiting for ‘instructions’ from God. This leads to spiritual paralysis. God knows our schedules and the things we have to do whether it be work, domestic duties, care for the family and so on. What God wants is an ear tuned to him throughout our day and a heart set to be obedient to do those things that he may call us to which come across our path.

Helen Keller the lady born blind and deaf who so successfully championed women’s rights told the Tennessee Legislature that when she was young, she longed to do great things and could not because of her disabilities; so she decided to do small things in a great way. That is a fantastic attitude. If we want to do great things with God, the way we do the small things will pave the path for greater things.

 The way we do our job, how we drive the car, the way we talk, our attitude to the washing up and other less interesting tasks will train us for anything God wants us to do. This verse from Ecclesiastes encourages us that no matter what is before us, let’s do it with might or excellence.

Our attitude should be that today is full of possibilities. We love to please God more than people and we know that our prayers are making a difference. We have a good attitude to those in authority over us and try our best to be punctual and give our best effort is what we are doing.  We are enthusiastic and a source of encouragement to those round us.

 Steve Backlund says we should be spiritual thermostats not spiritual thermometers. Spiritual thermometers merely reflect the current spiritual temperature. Spiritual thermostats set the spiritual temperature. We can too easily fall into what is happening around us, going with the flow but spiritual thermostats change things. They raise the bar in terms of expectations and attitudes and it is amazing how often people will rise to it.

One of the clubs we play bowls against has a captain who likes to tell dubious jokes in his little half time talk. By gentle persuasion, not criticism or judgement, we have managed to get him to tell less smutty jokes. It is a small thing but it changes the temperature. Excellent attitudes at work encourage others to the same higher levels. Less excessive eating and drinking habits encourage others not to over indulge either and not swearing can have an amazing effect on the people around us.

We really can change the spiritual temperature with excellent attitudes in the small things of life and as we keep busy doing what is before us, God will surprise us with the opportunities he opens up to do great things with him.

An excellent spirit

The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant.  Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. Genesis 39: 2 – 4

Joseph like Daniel was a man with an ‘excellent spirit’. He too was taken off into captivity as a young man to a country heavily demonised and into idolatry big time. He had every opportunity to turn his back on God and be angry, resentful, bitter and unforgiving and yet three times in this chapter it says the Lord was with Joseph. In fact it was so obvious to his master that the Lord was with him and prospering him that Potiphar entrusted his entire household to Joseph. Later Joseph was promoted to be second in the land to Pharaoh.

This sounds very similar to Daniel who also rose to great service in Babylon. Both of these young men could have just done the minimum required, kept a low profile and taken the attitude that since their masters were ungodly, idol worshipping pagans they would have as little to do with them as possible. Instead they sought to bless their masters by their excellent service and Godly witness.

Nobody in either Egypt or Babylon was under any illusions who Daniel or Joseph served. There was no keeping their faith private for fear of ridicule or persecution. Both Daniel’s and Joseph’s faith was right out there blessing those over them. It also stood the test of false accusation, imprisonment and threat of death. 

We can make such a difference in our situations with Godly, kind, loving, reliable and honest service to those over and around us. We can bless the most ungodly people with our excellent service and be such a wonderful light in dark situations. Resentfulness and bitterness breed a grudging attitude but God’s love can shine out in the darkest places. The Lord is with us and we do not need to fear. He will prosper us as we seek to serve him and bless those around us and he will never leave us or forsake us in the midst of difficulties and persecutions.