The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
- Genesis 39:2
 
Look at Joseph. He’s in a God-forsaken place … cast away by his family, sent away from the place of God’s blessing, sold into slavery. Joseph is in a God-forsaken place, but he’s not God-forsaken.
 
The Lord was with him. Despite the rejection, despite the exile, despite the slavery, the Lord was with Joseph. And the Lord’s presence made a tremendous difference. Joseph prospered in Egypt because the Lord was with him.
 
There isn’t a place you can go where you can’t prosper if the Lord is with you. No valley is so dark, no situation so dire that the presence of the Lord can’t cause you to flourish. We want you to hear this and take courage.
 
Your prospering doesn’t ultimately depend on your circumstances. Your decisions influence your experience in life, but they don’t have the final say. You aren’t the only actor in the drama of your life. The Lord also has a role to play. He’s both the author and lead actor in the story in which we find ourselves. And he has good intentions for us.
 
We’ll take time this week to look into the mechanics of the blessing that comes with the presence of the Lord. We’ll explore how our character comes into play. But today we just wanted to carve out some space for you. We want to invite you to bask in the presence of the Lord. He’s with you. Right here. Right now.
 
Try this exercise. Take a deep breath and sit in silence with the Lord. Don’t ask him for anything. Don’t tell him anything. Don’t intercede for anyone. All those are good, but for the sake of this exercise, we want to invite you to just enjoy the presence of the Lord.
 
Did you do it? What happened in your soul as you relaxed with God?