Short Thought continued.....

Imprisoned by Stories

 

‘One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 

She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!”

Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.

When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, she called out to her servants.

Soon all the men came running.  “Look!” she said.  “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave

here to make fools of us!  He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed.  When he

heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”

She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home.  Then she told him her story.’

(Genesis 39:11-17 NLT)

 

Making up stories about others is a dangerous thing which can have devastating effects.

Potiphar’s wife made up a story falsely accusing Joseph of raping her;

when she shared this with her husband, Potiphar believed her and threw Joseph into prison.

 

When a story is made up about us we can find ourselves in the difficult situation

of perhaps being misunderstood, wrongly accused or treated unjustly.

Having resisted temptation and acted with integrity we may not literally be thrown

into prison but have, in some way, become ‘imprisoned’ by the story told about us.

 

Or perhaps you are imprisoned with the story you tell yourself:

 ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I can’t…’, ‘I don’t know how to…’

 

Perhaps your prison is one of: silence, or not being heard as you speak the truth,

or not knowing how to stand up for yourself, or not believing in yourself,

or not having the courage to move beyond.

 

When imprisoned what's your response?

Anger, frustration, self-pity, feeling overwhelmed, being uncertain of how to cope or how to respond.

 

Or do you seek God and His purpose?

 

‘But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love.’

‘The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.’

(Genesis 39:21 & 23 NLT)

 

When we find ourselves imprisoned by stories, we can choose to hold on to the promises of God:

 He is with us,

His faithful love will carry us through and

His hand of blessing is upon us guiding us to do good and causing us to succeed for Him.

 

Imprisonment, in whatever capacity, need never stop or restrict us

from being loved by God or from fulfilling His plans and purposes.
 

What story is imprisoning you?

What difference does it make knowing God is with you and faithfully loves you?

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