Today’s Scripture: Genesis 39:1-23
Today’s Devotional: Another way to handle toxic relationships is to end them. The Bible is full of examples of people who cut off their toxic relationships such as Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.
Response by: Jay Vance
So this May I’m going to attempt something that four years ago was nothing more than a big joke to me. Run a marathon. 26.2 miles. Yep, it’s crazy. And yep, it’s a lot of work. So how will I get it done? Excuse the cliche but it’s true here, one step at a time.
There’s just one way for me to actually complete this, make a plan and execute it. But I’m not in this alone. If left to do it on my own, no chance. I’m not going out and running 20 miles just because I need to do it to train (I do have one of those planned, anyone wanting to join in for a nice jog?). No, WE Run is there, running with me, making sure I don’t just take the easy way out and cut my miles short. We're there for one another, talk during the week and find out when everyone else is running so we can do it together. And it’s not just the members running there for us: my wife is there encouraging me on every training run, my small group is there as we have some seasoned runners there giving advice on what to do and what not to do, and I asked another experienced marathoner for help and he provided a daily training plan to help me get there. That's just a few of the people providing us help and support every single day.
How would I do if these people weren’t there for me? Or if one of the runners I’ve ran with so far looked at me over and over and said, “you’re crazy for thinking you can do this. You've got no shot; you’re not going to make it!” I’ll tell you how, they’d be right. I couldn’t, and more realistically, I wouldn’t.
It’s all about being around people who are there for you, helping you stay the course. If those people would show up, I need to make sure to just avoid them at all costs, cutting contact with them entirely if necessary. It’s just not worth the effort of putting up with people who are going to bring me down, I want to partner up with those who got my back!
The same was true for Joseph in Genesis. He was in Egypt, and because he followed God; God had his back! He had everything set up for him: a great job, a great boss, and was succeeding at everything. There was one problem: His bosses wife. She wanted more from Joseph than permitted, and so he resisted. He avoided her, not wanting her to be able to bring him down. But one day, she trapped him and it cost him everything, ending up in jail. So, now he’s in jail, and God is still there for him (anyone surprised?). “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. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.” (Verses 21-23)
So we need to remember that if there is someone who’s not there for us, do we really want that person there for us? God’s got our back, ALL THE TIME!!! How encouraging, exciting, and inspiring for us to remember!
Something to talk about: In what types of circumstances do you feel it would be necessary to end a toxic relationship?
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