Joseph

I've been looking over the life of Joseph in the Bible lately and I'm noticing some keys to his success throughout his ups and downs. Every time Joseph gets kicked down he then ends up in a place of leadership and responsibility. The natural question to ask is, "what is Joseph doing that leads him to such success?" The key is to answer that with a super-natural answer.

Genesis 39:2
2 "The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master."

The Lord was with Joseph. This is stated several times as you read about Joseph. The most important key to Joseph success has nothing to do with what Joseph did but rather what God did. Joseph was always careful to give God the credit (Gen. 40:8) but even then if God did not take the initiative to "BE" with Joseph then his life would lack serious purpose and meaning no matter the measure of "success" he may experience.

Of course now my temptation is to ask God to "be with" me in order for me to have success but that misses the point entirely. The fact that God was "with" Joseph is simply an indication of the relationship that the two of them shared together.

So instead of seeking ways to be successful maybe we should all simply seek God and enjoy the results of seeking HIM first. (Matthew 6:33; Jeremiah 29:13)