Stephen continued to defend himself before the religious ruling body, the Sanhedrin.  He reviewed how God was with their ancestors.
  Stephen told of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-Israel and Jacob-Israel’s twelve sons.  One of them was Joseph, a much favored son of Jacob.  But his brothers did not love him so much. 

(NASB) Acts 7:9-10 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt.  Yet God was with him,
10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.” 

  Jealousy was the root cause of selling their younger brother to slave traders heading south into Egypt.  “Yet God was with him.”
  Joseph had to grow up in a hurry.  Imprisoned, sold as a slave, falsely accused of sexual advances, imprisoned…for years.  “Yet God was with him.”  (See Genesis 39-41 for the story of Joseph.) 

  It was the living God Who used Joseph’s circumstances to teach him, to prepare him for a great responsibility in Egypt.  That responsibility would impact his brothers, father and their future.  It was God who rescued Joseph from slavery and imprisonment to become a powerful leader in Egypt. 

  What are you and I to know in the middle of life…perhaps you are in a difficult place, or in threatening circumstances, or facing a terminal illness.  If you are a follower of Christ, you can know this…

“Yet God was with him.”

  God is with you, no matter what is going on in your life.  What may seem unfair, unending, uncalled for treatment, even illegal imprisonment or harassment – Yet God is with…you! 
  The living God uses your circumstances and the people in your path to draw you to Himself.  It is an opportunity for you to grow spiritually.  It is an opportunity to rely on Him and not rely on yourself any longer. 

  As Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, he knew (without any doubt) that God was with him…right then. 

Yet God is with you...follower of Christ.