Jesus says,
“In this world you will have trouble.”
John 16:33
I’m sure everyone of us can attest to that truth from our own life experiences. But he also tells us to take heart because He has overcome the world. With that assurance, He tells us throughout scripture to patiently endure and remain faithful to Him through all the trials and suffering that He already knows we will face in this fallen, imperfect world.
Why? Because He already knows the end from the beginning in His Grand Story that is unfolding and our temporary suffering is not where it ends in eternity. He invites us to partner with Him in His Kingdom work and be part of His Grand Story. Each one of us was created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10) But we can easily get derailed or quit altogether when trials and suffering beat us down. So He reminds us to push through every trial that comes our way, to persevere with patient endurance so that we don’t miss the Big Picture of what He wants to accomplish, even through our pain and suffering.
Joseph in the Old Testament is a great example of persevering with patient endurance throughout painful seasons in his life. This ends with God accomplishing His plan to save countless lives – especially Joseph’s extended family, which later becomes the nation of Israel. Genesis 37-50 tells the fascinating story of Joseph’s life, the ups and downs of which can be summarized as: Pasture, Pit, Potiphar, Prison and Pharaoh’s Palace. As the favourite son of his father Jacob, tending the flocks in the pasture, he had to endure the murderous hatred and jealousy of his half brothers who threw him into a pit and then sold him to merchants headed for Egypt. In Egypt, he had to endure the false accusation of his master’s (Potiphar’s) wife which landed him in prison for about two years. Even during the “Up” seasons of his life as Potiphar’s trusted servant and Pharaoh’s second-in-command, he endured the painful separation from his homeland and his beloved father for over a decade! And yet his heart was not bitter! Whether he was in Potiphar’s household or in prison, Genesis 39 tells us 4 times that “the Lord was with him”. Each time he got back up again in life, first from the pit then from prison, he rose to a higher level of influence, power and authority – not for himself but to accomplish God’s purposes.
At the peak of Joseph’s life as Pharaoh’s second-in-command, God used a severe worldwide famine to reunite Joseph’s family with him in Egypt. With the favour God granted Joseph from Pharaoh, he settled his father and brothers in the best part of the land (Goshen) where they could enjoy the fat of the land in the midst of the famine! After the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers feared that he would retaliate against them for all the wrongs they did to him. Instead, he took the high road and kindly assured them with these words:
“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives … I will provide for you and your children.”
Genesis 50:19-21
Imagine that!
Joseph never missed the Big Picture of what God wanted to accomplish through him. He was never enticed by the wealth and prosperity in Potiphar’s household and Pharaoh’s Palace. Even while his father was still alive, he reassured his brothers repeatedly that it was not them who sent him to Egypt but God sent him ahead of them to save their lives by a great deliverance!
What about us? When we’re in a “high” place of comfort and prosperity, would we be enticed by the good things in life, get complacent and forget why God put us there in the first place? Or when we’re in the “pit” or “prison”, will we patiently endure trials and suffering even when we’re blameless? And take the high road, trusting God to accomplish His purposes through our pain? With His strength, He calls us to get back up again to a new level (whatever that may look like) and partner with Him to accomplish His purposes.