The LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. Genesis 39:3
What is included in the “all that he [Joseph] did”? Joseph had to learn a foreign language, accounting, and management skills. And as he gave himself to his work, God gave him success.
Your daily work matters. How you do it matters, too. Joseph did his work well. He was reliable, conscientious, focused, honest, loyal, and pleasant. He brought nothing but good to Potiphar and his household.
It would have been easy for Joseph to arrive in Egypt with a chip on his shoulder, but there isn’t a hint of that. As Joseph labored for Potiphar, he might have thought, What does this have to do with the will of God for my life? It had everything to do with it, because this was the work that God had given him to do.
Joseph served in Potiphar’s house for eleven years. Some think success should come quickly, but this story shows us a better way. Sudden success is fraught with all kinds of spiritual dangers. It is fertile ground for pride, presumption, and ambition. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, “The worst thing that can happen to a man is that he should succeed before he is ready.” God knows when you are ready to be trusted with more.
Trust is earned. You do not have a right to be trusted, but you earn trust by proving faithful over time. This growing trust Joseph earned was the reason why he kept getting promoted. “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matt. 25:21).
Don’t waste your life by always looking at the next thing. The best place to flourish is wherever God has set you down. Whatever opportunities may open for you in the future will in large measure be shaped by the way you apply yourself to what you are doing now. Always do your best work, for you never know who may be measuring you for a larger task.
Are you giving your best effort where God has put you? Or are you looking at the next thing?
