You Have God’s Presence and Favor Regardless of Your Circumstances

Hebrews 13:5 says that God’s presence is a guaranteed constant in your life. But I want you to know that you cannot evaluate God’s presence and His unmerited favor in your life based on your circumstances. To help you understand what this means, let’s look at the life of Joseph.

Joseph refused the advances made by Potiphar’s wife, and as the common saying goes, “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned”! She maliciously accused Joseph of attempting to rape her, brandishing as “evidence” the garments Joseph had left in her hands when he fled from her. When Potiphar heard his wife telling her version of the story, his anger was aroused, and he seized Joseph, stripped him from the place of authority he had given him, and threw him into prison.

Just put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. What is happening here? It sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it? With the painful memory of his brothers casting him into the pit still fresh in his mind, here he is once again, thrown into a dungeon even though he was innocent.

Any average person would be bitter and angry with God! Most people would ask, “Where is God? Why had God brought him this far, only to abandon and forsake him? How could this happen? Where is the justice against this false accusation?”

But Joseph was no “average Joe”! He knew that the Lord would never leave him nor forsake him. Joseph considered not his circumstances but kept his focus on the presence of the Lord. Regardless of whether he was a common slave, an overseer in Potiphar’s house, or now a prisoner facing the prospect of life imprisonment for a crime he did not even commit, Joseph did not evaluate God’s unmerited favor in his life based on his circumstances.

Instead of getting bitter, he kept his hope in the Lord. Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up on God and life, he kept his confidence, knowing that all his success was wrapped up in the presence of the Lord.

And boy, did the Lord deliver him! I want you to read this for yourself to see what the Lord did for Joseph:

But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything under Joseph’s authority because the LORD was with him, and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

What does this tell you? If you bow to your circumstances and continue to be conscious of the Lord’s presence, you will rise to prominence wherever you are placed, whatever your environment. You will have favor with your bosses, and they will promote you to man-in-charge. And whatever you do will prosper!