The other day I noticed that I had been using the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished” a bit more then I had in the past. The concept seemed harmless enough and I would think that this has happened to many of us. At work I will put in extra effort. Initially that extra effort stands out and I may even start to feel confident that my testimony is showing through in the workplace. Soon I begin to get assigned additional work, which takes extra effort to complete on time, but the cycle continues to a point which it feels like I become overloaded. I start to stress. Soon I’m challenged to even be nice to those around me. I may even get upset at God, why would He let that happen? The pouting starts, maybe I throw a couple tantrums in my prayer time.
Genesis 39:2-4
The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
It is amazing to me that Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit can inspire and convict, even to do both at the same time. It also highlights how the Kingdom and the world view work very differently. Joseph, who had a solid view of the Kingdom, was in slavery, betrayed by his brothers. I would image being a slave was terrible, there would be no reward at any point, your entire existence was owned by a person. In my fallenness I regularly step into the trap that my success is a reflection of what I have done, yet I am to be a slave to Christ. The Word tells me that it is because of God’s kindness that I have any favor or success, and all that success should be awarded to Christ not to me. When God shows me kindness and favor I need to account it as a gift, not as a reward or worse as a punishment.
Genesis 39:5
From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.
Is it possible that the blessings from God are poured out on the place I work, garnering success of the entire organization, simply because God is being kind to me? That’s a staggering thought. The truth is, the overflow of God’s blessing goes to those around me, not just falling to the floor to be discarded. Too often I spend my days, head down, industriously handling my tasks, hardly seeing the impact of God’s kindness to those I interact with. How amazing it is that by following our Savior people are impacted regardless of my inability to see it. How incredible, that as I sit at a desk working, the heavenly blessings I receive are spreading out to other folks who happen to be in the same organization as me.
– Jeff Gilbert