The Purposes Of Suffering- Part 3

And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:4-8

Some people seem to have life so easy from day one. Jacob’s son, Joseph, was one of those. Everyone knew he was his father’s favorite, receiving special gifts and special treatment. But comfort zones are not where people typically grow and improve.

Unfortunately Joseph was a tattle tale (Genesis 37:2). And when he had some prophetic dreams about how he would rise above his parents and his siblings at some point in his future, he didn’t have the discretion to keep that to himself (v. 5ff).

Still, what Joseph’s brothers did to him in retaliation goes way beyond sibling rivalry. They sold him into slavery and told their father that he had been killed by a wild animal. Joseph was torn from his home and family and sent to work as a slave in a foreign country. Not to mention what his poor father and mother suffered (v. 34-35)! Thus ended Joseph’s favored life.

Or did it? If you’ve never read the Genesis story of Joseph, it’s a fascinating narrative full of ups and downs. At first Joseph rose to great favor in his master’s eyes, but when the master’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape, he was thrown in jail for some time, more than two years at least. Yet Joseph was faithful to God through it all. He had spurned the advances of his master’s wife saying, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (39:9b).

So we’re back to the question: why would God allow a faithful young man to suffer so much? This is not what Joseph had planned for his life!

It’s easy to see how Joseph’s suffering was a result of sin. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sins, like Jonah, but sometimes it’s the result of other people’s sins. We like to describe certain sins as “not hurting anyone,” but I don’t know if that can ever be true. Every sin has some kind of ripple effect. The ripple effect of Joseph’s brothers’ sin, combined with Joseph’s own youthful pride and lack of discretion perhaps, was very great, touching everyone in their family, and many people beyond. But! Not all of those consequences were bad, because God can use any situation to bring His plans to fruition.

God was really multi-tasking on this one, folks. First of all He used it to save His chosen people from a famine that might have wiped them out. Of course, God could have saved them some other way, but He did not let Joseph’s suffering go to waste. And secondly, He used this situation to mold and shape Joseph’s character. When his brothers came to Egypt years later to buy food for the family, they didn’t recognize Joseph (42:1-8). But he knew them, and this time he showed a great deal of restraint and discretion, cleverly testing his brothers to see if they, too, had learned anything in the intervening years. When he finally revealed himself, Joseph forgave his brothers, and Pharaoh allowed him to move his entire family, including his aged father, to Egypt, for the famine had only just begun.

Unfortunately, when we are comfortable we don’t tend to change much. The crucible of suffering sometimes “breaks” people but often it “makes” them. Joseph’s sufferings made him a better, wiser man. If you knew that God had a similar plan to use your sufferings that way, would it change your perspective? This is another way that we are invited to take part in God’s plans.

Joseph’s life took a drastic turn away from what he expected. Yet even though he was torn away from the favor of his earthly father and later from an earthly master, he still had a Father and a Master in heaven looking down on him with favor and walking with him every step of the way.

“But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison…. the LORD was with him; and whatever he did the LORD made it prosper,” (Genesis 39:21,23).

Dear Heavenly Father, when familiar comforts are taken from me and I am faced with heartache and fear, be with me as You were with Joseph. Give me favor in the sight of the people around me and cause my way to prosper again. Don’t let my suffering go to waste. Use it to mold me and to accomplish Your purposes. As long as I must live in this world of sin, help me to seek Your favor above all else. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins

Related Reading:

God Is With Us When We Suffer