Why do we compete? No one competes to lose, do they? When we watch a sporting event we want our team to win, right? Even if we don’t have a team, we applaud the victors and wish the defeated better luck next time! Whenever we compete, we’re doing so for some sort of reason. I’d wager we want to win and bring home the trophy for winning. No one gets a trophy for losing. Of course, nowadays there are lots of trophies given out just for participating, but I’m not talking about those sorts of trophies. Trophies are evidence of victory we can display for all to see. 

When I was reading about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in Genesis, I realized that’s what Joseph’s cloak was to her. If you’re not familiar with the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, you can read about it here.

When Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife, he left his cloak behind. 

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.

Genesis 39:16 (NIV)

We know that Joseph didn’t sleep with Potiphar’s wife. Why then did she keep his cloak? If Joseph had sinned and slept with Potiphar’s wife, it would make sense, perhaps, to keep the cloak as a trophy of her conquest over him. Why hold onto the cloak when she failed to get him to sleep with her? Perhaps there was another sort of victory the cloak represented?

What do we know about Joseph? He was the fourth son of his father Jacob. He was also Jacob’s favored son. Joseph also had dreams that God had given him, showing the future. When Joseph shared his dreams with his family, they took umbrage at them. His brothers hated him even more and conspired to get rid of him when they had the chance. They thought about killing Joseph but sold him into slavery instead. Joseph, later on, tells his brothers something important.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

Joseph’s brothers wanted to get rid of Joseph. They didn’t like his behavior, the love his father had for him, nor the idea that they would serve him in the promising future God had revealed in his dreams. 

What did God tell Abraham about his descendants? 

Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

Genesis 15:13 (NIV)

We know the word of God will never fail. It cannot fail. Neither can the promises of God. However, we’re prone to believing what we see today and believing that’s all there is. Even when we think we’re on the right track with God’s plan, it doesn’t take much to make us stumble. 

Potiphar’s wife, as a servant of Satan, wanted to wreck Joseph’s path (God’s plan). Even though she didn’t sleep with Joseph, she had his cloak. A trophy of sorts to show her husband. A trophy of triumph over God’s plan. Joseph went to prison, and Potiphar’s wife might have thought she had won. What does Scripture tell us about the devil?

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

Scripture also tells us the devil is accusing us.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

Revelation 12:10 (NIV)

Joseph could have become embittered by his circumstances. However, he did not and still had the favor of God. Even when the baker and cupbearer were thrown into prison with him, and he told them the meaning of their dreams, it looked like Joseph had been given a break. What did Joseph tell the cupbearer?

But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.

Genesis 40:15 (NIV)

What did the cupbearer do when he got out of prison?

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Genesis 40:23 (NIV)

Joseph wanted out of prison. A gilded prison, whether or not you’re calling the shots, is still a prison. Joseph never stopped believing God wasn’t with him, and he knew the baker and cupbearer were put there by the hand of God. However, in the two years after the cupbearer had left, and Joseph was still in prison, he had a lot of time to wonder. 

I think we’ve all had those moments in our walk with the Lord when we saw the plan of God manifesting in our lives clearly. The deliverance or prayer we’ve been waiting to see manifest is right there. Circumstances are right and we are so thankful. Only to see it fly like a bird away from us. Questions pummel us. If we’re not careful, our doubts can become doubts about God. 

It’s when we’re having doubts that we’re the most vulnerable. What we perceive as failures the devil holds up to us like trophies. The devil holds up trophies of our past failures to get us to believe, not in God, but in our failures. God knows better. He cannot be fooled. Do we know better?

Sometimes we’re guilty of the things the devil accuses us of before God. Sometimes we’re not. Whatever the case, we who are saved are covered by the shed blood of Jesus can plea the blood and be released from the death our sins bring. 

Do you know God? God knows you, and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away. 

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart, and I receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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