Many of our ladies who prefer to dress provocatively cannot deny the fact they are switching men into mad moments. A man who went for recreation at the Lagos beach said that watching stark naked women swimming was like a mental torture. To him, “here are ladies, not careful about their nudity and yet wouldn’t want men to touch them.”
This to him makes the men mad and restive. It will not be fair to blame the ladies alone. The men can also choose not to look at evil. Though this is quite difficult but here is a word from the Bible: “I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman.” (Job 31:1 GNT) You have the power to change the television channel because you own the remote control. You have the power to know when to walk away and know when to run! I was in a car with a senior clergy colleague, he stopped his car and called a newspaper vendor and respectfully and sternly admonished him to stop displaying pornographic magazines on his stand. The Vendor thanked him and since that day those magazines have disappeared. I remember he told him that he was courting with what destroys a man and make many of them poor and mentally sick. He asked the vendor if he was happy selling the instrument of doom and destruction of marriages and homes. He also asked him if he loved success or the wrath of God. We should not always conclude that sexual perverts and their promoters will never change. Some of them are still in it because nobody has cared to lovingly confront them or even pray for them. Some had no parents or guardians to chart the course of sanity for them.
The clash that comes with a mad moment of desire may seem insurmountable. Delilah succeeded in bringing Sampson so low to the Id or pleasure moment. When Sampson got to that moment, his body was on fire. His whole being was aroused for nothing else but to have a drought of Delilah’s captivating sexual offer. Sampson was reduced to a baby by Delilah. Though Samson was a man of great strength he became a victim of his very primitive instinct. The Bible says that Delilah prodded Sampson so much that he was tired to death. (Judges 16:16) In other words Sampson was fainting at the thought that he stood to lose the precious option of savoring Delilah’s powerfully beautiful body if he refused to tell her the secret of his power. Samson preferred to say “to hell with the Holy Spirit” just for a bout of sex. All he wanted at that moment was sex with Delilah and nothing else. He didn’t even care if Delilah had HIV/AIDS. He wanted to run the race before counting the miles or before weighing the consequences.
In the case of Joseph he won the clash! Believe it or not Joseph had the same opportunity Sampson had -even on a platter of gold. He was only asked to do his own without conditions attached. Even if conditions were attached, they were to his favor. Joseph through the power of Mrs. Potipher would have been sent back to Canaan or promoted to a “Senior Special House-Boy” What an opportunity for freedom and promotion he had! It is good to look intently at Joseph’s circumstance and take note of his gallantry:
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded. But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. -Gen 39:6-11
Joseph was a man who possessed his mad moments; of course Joseph was tickled and aroused by the nakedness of Potipher’s wife body. He was a full-blooded man. He was not an eunuch. Joseph was stripped naked yet he later wore the costliest robe in Egypt. According to Steve Farrar who wrote “Finishing Strong,” “Joseph was stripped of his family but not of his future. Joseph was stripped of his position but not his purity Joseph was stripped of his accomplishment but not of his attitude.” When you conquer self you conquer nations! Joseph looked so weak, unlike Samson, his enemies overpowered him humiliated him, tore his clothing and stripped him naked. He was sold as a slave and could do nothing about it. He went to prison for a crime he did not commit. In the prison, unlike Sampson he couldn’t break the prison gates. He faced exactly the same temptation that came to Sampson. The same temptation that shaved Samson’s his hair and reduced him from the strongest to the weakest. He passed this temptation and went to prison from prison the Bible says: “Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of themJoseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetter and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free; the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household; he became ruler over all the king’s possessions. He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased and teach the king’s advisers.” (Ps 105:17-22). Joseph did not fight any battle unlike many who conquered kingdoms. He conquered kingdoms because he was able to conquer himself. He told himself a big no when fleshy desires came in. He was under pressure like Samson to succumb to the deadly lure of a woman but he stood his ground and stuck to discipline that has remained a timeless truth and principle
