Genesis 39:12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
The ghastly winds of injustice and insults baffled the life of Joseph for over a decade. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers around the age of seventeen. He was thrown from the frying pan into the fire when the wife of Potiphar lured him into adultery. For fleeing from the seductive treacherous woman, Joseph was falsely accused and imprisoned. During the testing time of trial, it would have seemed as if God was silent to all the prejudice and persecution of the man who pursued purity. In the cruelty of slavery, the devil offered the young man Joseph a shortcut to success through a seductive sensual temptation. Joseph fled from the temptation but the Egyptian dungeon was the furnace of trial that refined him for the promotion. Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt at the age of 30.
The moment we accept Jesus, we have a fierce enemy who would stalk to strike us relentlessly with temptations and seductions. He never stops hurting, wounding and conniving against God’s children.
Temptations are satan’s snare to stumble us into sin while trials are God permitted setups for success.
The Lord God was fine-tuning Joseph’s heart for the promotion during the years of persecution. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character (Psalm 105:19). While God was shaping him into spiritual maturity, the devil attacked his purity. When we are tested, refined and reformed to fit into the shoes of our calling, to fulfill our purpose, the demonic gangsters will attack us with temptations, cheap pleasures and seduction.
Temptations in the Trials:
1. Shortcut: Trails are a refining process and there is no shortcut to the sifting and the purifying process. There will be times when we want to run away from the smoldering heat of the furnace. An extremely hot furnace of 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit is where gold is refined of its impurities. Lower temperatures will result in semi-purified gold. There are no shortcuts to success.
2. Snuff: The relentless attacks of seduction will come as a silly distraction from people, entertainment or internet. The temptation is to spoil the end result of the trial. Instead of growing through the test, yielding to the temptation would stunt us with shame. Snuff out the voices of temptation that scream ‘quit’, ‘cave-in’ or ‘give-up’.
3. Separation: In the process of a test or a trial, impurities will be separated, leaving back pure gold. Separation is a short term pain for a long time gain. Separation enhances our value many fold in the kingdom of God.
Refuse the temptation to get out of the trial but go through it and come out as pure gold.
Genesis 39:21 But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Prayer: Dearest Lord Jesus, when I go through tests and trials, help me to be alert not to give into the temptation to find shortcuts that snuff out the refining process. Amen.
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