Running is usually a mark of a coward, but sometimes God calls us to flee. When Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph daily by inviting him to sleep with her, he learned to stay out of her way. Then when she cornered him in the house and insisted she get her way, he ran! The Apostle Paul wrote, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). God also might call us to flee a toxic relationship, a compromising job, or a spiritually abusive relationship or group. While we can’t run away from every problem, there is a time when God says the best thing to do is get out of Dodge.

Staying focused on God’s truth over human desire cost Joseph greatly. It led to a second betrayal, which took him from his initial captivity as a slave in Potiphar’s house to a much worse imprisonment. Just as we can’t sort out all the reasons for the difficult circumstances in our own lives, we don’t know for sure why these bad things happened to Joseph. However, as we read on in Genesis 39, we find that even in the depths of an Egyptian prison, God was showed Joseph favor.

“But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.” (Genesis 39:10)  God continues to bless us even when we feel like we can’t sink any lower. He is crazy about us! While we can’t always make sense of the whys and hows of what we’re enduring when others hurt us, we can rest assured that God will never leave us or forsake us.