As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. Genesis 39:10
Temptation is especially powerful when you have been working long hours. You are tired, depleted, and your heart says, “You have been working hard and you deserve a reward.”
Joseph didn’t go looking for temptation. Temptation came looking for him. Sometimes a person may have desire, but no opportunity. Other times you can have opportunity, but no desire. But when desire and opportunity come together, temptation is at the height of its power.
You may know the pressure of this in your work life. Perhaps you travel for work. When you check into the hotel, there you are in a strange, anonymous place, and you are lonely. There is something disorienting about travel. You can even get the feeling, when you are in a different place, that the normal rules do not apply. You are on your own, away from all that is familiar to you, with time on your hands, and you are vulnerable to temptation.
Perhaps you have found help in your battle with temptation through the support of an accountability partner. But Joseph had nobody to share his struggles with. He had no external support whatsoever. He was alone and anonymous in Egypt, and that could only have heightened the power of temptation in his soul.
We are told that Potiphar’s wife “spoke to Joseph day after day.” It was not a passing temptation. It was a relentless campaign! It’s not too hard to resist a fleeting temptation, but when it grinds on day after day—in your face—it wears you down. You just get tired of the battle.
Have you been facing a relentless temptation? Have you been battling it for a long time? Are you tired of fighting? Who could you share your struggles with?
