Longsuffering

long-suf·fer·ing: showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.

Longsuffering and patience are key themes in the very first book of the Bible in the story of Joseph. Joseph’s life started off well, he knew he was favored above the other 11 sons of Jacob and due to this, Joseph was the only son who received a beautiful robe from his father. This “coat of many colors” made his brothers very jealous. Shortly after Joseph received the coat, he had a dream his brothers and father would bow down to him as if he was in higher standing than they. He mistakenly told his family about the dream which angered his brothers all the more.

“We were out in the field tying up bundles of grain. My bundle stood up and then your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before it!” (Genesis 37:7 NLT)

The Suffering Begins.

Joseph’s season of suffering begins with a plot by his brothers to kill him. Thankfully they decided against that, and sold him into slavery instead.  An officer of Pharaoh named Potiphar purchased Joseph to work for him. Because Joseph trusted the Lord, he performed his job to the best of his abilities, knowing God would deliver him from slavery. Potiphar benefitted greatly from Joseph’s good work and eventually Joseph did too. He was elevated to second in command and put in charge of Potiphar’s entire household.

Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

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.”

Potiphar’s wife became so angry with Joseph’s lack of desire for her that she concocted a story about being raped by him. This story was taken seriously and Joseph was thrown into prison.  However in prison the Lord didn’t abandon him, rather He caused Joseph to become the favorite of the chief jailer, which resulted in being treated well.

Trusting The Lord During Suffering

Joseph trusted the Lord while in his season of suffering. In jail, he was asked to interpret dreams and when he interpreted the dream of Pharoah, his whole life changed for good.

Pharoah’s dream revealed that a famine would come after seven years of abundance. Joseph developed a plan as to how to get through the famine and Pharoah decided it should be implemented. He put Joseph in charge of all the food in Egypt during the years of plenty and the years of famine. During the famine years, Joseph’s brothers heard that Egypt had food so they journeyed from Canaan to Egypt. It was there they bowed before Joseph and were stunned when they realized they were humbling themselves before their very own brother.

“But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it.  He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives…God sent me here to preserve you so that you (Israelites) will become a great nation.”(Genesis 45:5-7 NLT)

The Hebrews proceeded to live in Egypt for 400 years and grew to 2 million strong.  This size scared the Egyptians so they enslaved the Israelites.  God was not happy with this arrangement and came to rescue His people. God lead them out of Egypt to the land he promised their descendants, the promised land of Canaan.

Longsuffering Teaches Us Important Life Lessons To Pass On To Our Children

• What was meant for our harm, God can use to our advantage. (Gen 50:20)
• God will never leave or abandon those who follow Him, even though there may be years of thwarted dreams along the way.(Heb 13:5)
• There is an end to suffering. God will step in and rescue His faithful followers, bringing them to their promised blessings. (Ps 27:13-14)

It will be difficult, but it is so important to stay hopeful during our seasons of longsuffering. When we do this we give God an opportunity to show His trustworthiness. We also show our children that despite the evil that is hoping to destroy us, we are supernaturally unfazed because of our connection to God. Our position of taking the high road allows God to move in and change the outcome.

^“ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Our example during the difficult seasons in life can be the best teaching moments for our children. When we suffer, not using food, drink, relationships, work or drugs to numb our pain and instead tighten our grip on our Bible, we become a product of Christ’s faithfulness. Our example gives our children first hand knowledge the Lord follows through and they then can build their lives on God’s faithfulness as well.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”(Prov 22:6)

Food For Thought,

Lisa

Music For Your Soul: “He Didn’t Lift Us To Let Us Down” by The Imperials