Root Words | Genesis 39 – Strong Shoes
In Genesis 39, we look into the life of Joseph and see how he compared with his brother Judah in dealing with temptation. Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch woman who helped protect Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War 2 by hiding them in her home and who was later caught and sent to a concentration camp herself once said; “If God sends you on stony paths, He will provide strong shoes!” This chapter in Genesis provides great resources for two of the greatest struggles we Christians face in life: Suffering and Temptation!
What are the keys to dealing with these equally paralyzing trials? Simply stated, it is found four times in this chapter: “The LORD was with Joseph”. Joseph’s character remained true to the Lord as a result of the Lord being with him! Though the circumstances changed, Joseph’s walk with the Lord did not.
The same qualities that caused him to be successful in Potiphar’s house in the first six verses are the same ones that land him in jail in the final seven verses. The truth is that obedience to the Lord does not always bring about prosperity, popularity, or prestige but these things are not clear indicators of success anyway. Many of us wonder about the WHY of the trials that come our way. Moses answers the WHY in Deuteronomy 8:2-3 when he says, “God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”
Strong shoes my friends, strong shoes indeed!
Blessings,