In last month’s blog, we talked about the elusive New Year’s resolution. One of my 2026 goals is to (yet again) attempt to read the Bible in a year. That means by now, in this February blog, we’re finishing up the book of Genesis.

One of the chapters that jumped out at me was Genesis 39. There was a word that caught my attention, and it was used twice. Joseph is sold as a slave, stripped of family and future, and serving in a pagan household—yet Scripture insists, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he prospered” (Gen. 39:2). When Joseph is later falsely accused and thrown into prison, the text repeats it: “The LORD was with Joseph… and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (v.23).

Genesis 39 is an uncomfortable chapter for shallow ideas of prosperity. If prosperity means comfort, wealth, or freedom, Joseph seems like a strange example. But the Bible’s definition is sturdier than that. The Hebrew word for “prosper” means to advance or succeed in purpose—not to avoid hardship. Joseph’s circumstances worsened; God’s purposes did not. Joseph prospered because God’s presence produced faithfulness, trust, and fruit wherever he was placed—even in chains. His prosperity did not cancel injustice; it outgrew it. God’s work advanced in him and through him long before his circumstances improved.

The apostle Paul echoes this truth centuries later, writing from prison: “What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel” (Phil. 1:12). Paul does not say he can do all things through Christ who makes life easier, but through Christ who strengthens him (Phil. 4:13). Biblical prosperity is not the absence of suffering—it is the unstoppable progress of God’s work in a faithful life. If prosperity only exists when life improves, then Joseph and Paul become hard to explain.

If you’d like to explore this idea further, I found the article “What Does the Bible Say About Christians Who Are Poor?” on the United Church of God website to be a helpful follow-up.

By Lynn Leiby