Thrown into a pit by his own brothers and then enslaved to Egypt, he faced not only the physical suffering of brutal slave labor (at least in the early years), but he also suffered the mental and emotional trauma that comes from being abandoned by his family. No doubt he spent many days and nights wondering where God was in all of this? But as we eventually see, Joseph’s sufferings were leading him to be placed in circumstances at a crucial time to save his family from starvation.
In one of my favorite sermons by Sinclair Ferguson, he points out that God is often working not just for our good but for the good of others through us. Sometimes in our American context, we can get a little wrapped up in our own little world. We can think that our suffering is just all about us and God, that God is only doing something in my life. But as Dr. Ferguson also points out in his sermon, the truth is that God is always working in multiple lives and in multiple ways all at once.
Dr. Ferguson uses Joseph’s story as an example. Certainly, Joseph learned great personal humility and patience during his sufferings, which were intense. Thrown into a pit by his own brothers and then enslaved to Egypt, he faced not only the physical suffering of brutal slave labor (at least in the early years), but he also suffered the mental and emotional trauma that comes from being abandoned by his family. No doubt he spent many days and nights wondering where God was in all of this? But as we eventually see, Joseph’s sufferings were leading him to be placed in circumstances at a crucial time to save his family from starvation. Suffering is both for you and for others.
Is “Why?” the best question for our suffering?
Often the first question we ask when we suffer is “why me?” I wonder what would happen if we changed that question to “for whom?” How would this question change our perspective on our sufferings, moving it from inward focused to outward focused? I remember one of the elders in the church I went to in college had Parkinson’s Disease. One time he had some of us college kids over to his house. In a moment of open vulnerability, he shared with us how difficult it was for him to have Parkinson’s but that he thought one of the reasons God allowed this suffering was so that he could sympathize with the sufferings of others. It struck me at the time as an incredible statement.
