2. Potiphars Wife

Imagine you're married to a really important person—so very important that they seems too busy for you. (Because someone must be crazy busy in order to feel important, right?) Well, whether they're actually important or just really "busy," you still feel a void.

Lonely.

Looking.

And then—in walks some smok'n hot employee who is now paid to be your personal assistant. That's pretty much where Potiphar's wife found herself—BAM! Smack in-between a busy husband and a sudden distraction named Joseph. He packs a broom, biceps, and a daily question for Potiphar's wife:

"Hey, can I help you around the house or maybe make you some lunch today?"

This pilot episode of Desperate Housewives nestles inside the book of Genesis:

" . . . So he [Potiphar] left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and . . . he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance." (Genesis 39:6)

Potiphar (the husband) is apparently such a special, busy leader that he felt the need to completely delegate his home life to another man. Whether that's a model worth repeating, we'll save for another discussion, but for now, it is what it is. And Potiphar's wife was stuck with one wildly confusing view—a godly Hebrew paid to oversee her inner sanctum, home.

"Hello?" If you were placed in a similar circumstance, surely a day would come where loneliness and opportunity would combust into t-e-m-p-t-a-t-i-o-n.

If you were given the perfect set-up to sin, would you take it? Not sure? Me either.

So, let's both take notes from a man who withstood:
"It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she [Potiphar's wife] said, `Lie with me.' But he refused and said to his master's wife, . . . `How could I do this great evil and sin against God?'" (Genesis 39:7-9b).

When Joseph was presented with a clear invitation to swing Tiger's club or set up a Jesse James sexting match, Joseph refused. Instead, he had a heart-to-heart conversation with his conscience. He wielded a mighty question: "How could I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9) When sin pulled, Joseph looked up to the God who saved him from the pit of abandonment. He looked up to the God who had given him a vision for his life that far surpassed the passing pleasure of sin.

And after considering God, Joseph FLED: "She [Potiphar's wife] caught him by his garment saying, `Lie with me!' And Joseph left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside . . . " (Genesis 39:12).

So, what is the shortest distance between loneliness and lust? One loitering glance.

What then is the shortest distance between temptation and faithfulness? A gaze fixed on heaven.

 . . . And feet ready to flee, like Joseph's and Jesus'. Remember when Jesus lifted His gaze above Satan's offerings? During the wilderness temptation, Satan dangled a mighty fine invitation: a chance to take His kingdom before God's timing and instead He endured the palpable pain of the waiting and the agony of the cross. Jesus looked over and above loneliness, rejection, and feelings of abandonment to the glory set before Him—a coming kingdom and the Father's plan for reconciling sinners to Himself.) And the result?

Redemption.

Resurrection.

Reclaimed femininity.

And now, because the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in those who believe, we can access this same perspective and power, too (Romans 8:11). We can look over our loneliness, sadness, anger, bitterness and up to the eyes that love, fill, and raise us from the dead areas in our life and marriage.

Ask God to give you a higher view of Christ. He is the coming King of kings galloping from heaven with a sword in His mouth and a name written on His thigh—Faithful and True. He is the Resurrection and the Life that changes an unfaithful bride into a woman of purity and faithfulness.

We are not a slave to Satan's view of femininity—Playboy Bunnies hunting for men and putting them one by one into her basket whenever she feels the need for attention. No, we serve a King who laid down His life to redeem us and our view of self.  So, let's look into His eyes that purify our feminine wiles. Turn back to your husband and love only him, again and again.

Ask God to help you flee temptation and run back to your spouse. I bet you he finds some new time in his busy schedule, somehow. Wink. Wink.

· What view stands out to you through the window of Revelation 19:11-16?

· Do you still have corners of your heart that harbor the Playboy Bunny mentality?

· How can wielding Genesis 39:6 or Romans 8:11 prevent you from living like Potiphar's wife Part Deux?

· What area of your life do you need Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, raise from the dead for you? (John 11:25)

· Can you think of another verse that could turn our gaze to the One who saves in a moment of temptation? Post and share it with us!