“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.2 The Lord was with Joseph so that 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. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lordblessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,”NIV

‘’When his master saw that the LORD was with him…” (3a).

One of my favourite stories is about the author Edgar Wallace, who lived in the same street as a godly man (a retired vicar I think). Wallace apparently said, ‘As long as I live in the same street as that old man, I cannot doubt that there is a God.’

May it not merely be the case that the Lord is with His people (wonderful as that is), but that others can see He is. May they be able to see and sample the fruit growing in our lives. May it be that the blessing of God overflows the banks to affect our environments – wherever we may be, in good times and bad: whether in the house of Potiphar or in prison.

Someone spoke about ‘the giveaway life of the Christian.’ We see something of this in Joseph, who was blessed to be a blessing.

‘In spite of Joseph’s very difficult situation, the Lord was with him. (This statement is repeated in verse 21, where we find Joseph in yet a worse situation.) And because the Lord was with Joseph, he prospered – even in the most difficult circumstances. Nothing is too hard for the Lord, and without the Lord everything is too hard…The Lord’s presence changes everything in a person’s life…The promise of the Lord’s presence was one of the most important covenant promises (Genesis 26:3; 28:15; 31:3). Another important promise was that, through Abraham’s offspring, blessing would come to all peoples (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14) – even to ungodly people like Potiphar…through Joseph, the blessing of the Lord came upon Potiphar also.’ Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p187.

PRAYER: Lord, even in those times and situations where I cannot speak about you, may I ‘smell’ of you. Let it be that the fragrance, the aroma of Christ is always upon me, to your glory.