WHEN YOU ARE BEING MALTREATED

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

WHEN YOU ARE BEING MALTREATED

"Joseph's master took him and put him in prison. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder" (Genesis 39:20-21 NIV).

The story of Joseph has always been an attention-grabbing one to me. His father loved him because his mother was the favourite wife of his father. Nevertheless, there was another reason for the special love of his father for him. The Bible says, "he brought their father a bad report about [his other brothers]" (Genesis 37:2 NIV). The father's love and Joseph's action made his brothers to hate him. Their hatred notwithstanding, Joseph told them about his future as he had seen it in dreams. This also made them to hate him more. The thought that came to their minds when they had the opportunity of harming Joseph was to kill him! They maltreated him by throwing him into an empty cistern. They later decided to sell him as a slave to some merchants. The merchants in turn sold him to an Egyptian officer. In slavery, he was accused wrongly of an offence he did not committed by the wife of his master. Unfortunately, the master did not verify the authenticity of the accusation before sending Joseph to the prison. What a series of maltreatment!

However, in all these, God did not forsake Joseph. He showed him kindness and favour both in the house of the Egyptian officer and even in prison. God made everything entrusted to Joseph a success. Even when he was been forgotten in the prison by an officer of Pharaoh, the Lord was still with him. No wonder, in God's appointed time, he was remembered and elevated to the highest position in Egypt second in rank to Pharaoh.

Are you being maltreated for doing good thing? When you are being maltreated, be sure that it is because of doing good thing, not because of any other reasons. Peter says, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil" and "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good" (1 Peter 3:17; 4:19 NIV). God will indeed promote you when you are being maltreated for doing good thing.

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

Prayer Requests:

1. Are you being maltreated for doing good thing? Pray that God will give you the grace to endure it till the time He will elevate you.

2. Pray that God will arise to vindicate those that are being maltreated for doing good thing and give Himself glory in their lives.