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Amazing Story of Joseph
131
Joseph knew very well what refusing would bring. On the one
hand were concealment, favor, and rewards; on the other, disgrace,
imprisonment, perhaps death. His whole future life depended on
the decision of the moment. Would Joseph be true to God? With
inexpressible anxiety, angels looked on the scene.
Joseph’s answer reveals the power of religious principle. He
would not betray the confidence of his master on earth, and, whatever
the consequences, he would be true to his Master in heaven. Joseph’s
first thought was of God. “How can I do this great wickedness, and
sin against God?” he said.
Young people should always remember that wherever they are
and whatever they do, they are in the presence of God. No part of
our conduct escapes God’s notice. We cannot hide our ways from
the Most High. To every deed there is an unseen witness. Every act,
every word, every thought is as distinctly noted as though there were
only one person in the whole world.
Joseph suffered for his integrity. His tempter took revenge by
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causing him to be put into prison. If Potiphar had believed his wife’s
charge against Joseph, the young Hebrew would have lost his life,
but the modesty and uprightness that had characterized his conduct
were proof of his innocence, yet to save the reputation of his master’s
house, he was sent to disgrace and bondage.
At first Joseph was treated harshly by his jailers. The psalmist
says, “They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the
time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him”
(
Psalm 105:18, 19
).
Joseph in Prison
But Joseph’s real character shone even in the dungeon. His years
of faithful service had been most cruelly repaid, yet this did not turn
him gloomy or make him distrustful. He had peace and trusted his
case with God. He did not brood over his own wrongs but forgot his
sorrow in trying to lighten the sorrows of others. He found a work
to do, even in the prison. God was preparing him in the school of
affliction for greater usefulness, and he did not refuse the needed
discipline. He learned lessons of justice, sympathy, and mercy that
prepared him to exercise power with wisdom and compassion.