Discover God's Dream For You By Jennie AllenSample

Threads of Suffering (Part 1)

Joseph was either a slave or in prison for twenty years because of his brothers. Twenty years. It seems too long to be in the dark—long enough to grow bitter and run from God. But Joseph kept hoping and kept clinging to a sovereign God who could release him at any point.

God has a will, and we cannot see all of it yet. God gives and he takes away. We have Scripture and we know his story in part, but what we won’t fully know until we see him face-to-face is how our stories were working together for good within his story.

My friend Sarah understands this to be true.

On a Sunday right before my friend Sarah’s stroke, drowning in the divorce that she had fasted and prayed would not happen, she and I sat together in church. Even though we weren’t looking at each other, I could feel her crying and she could feel me crying. But we sang. Hands raised. Tears falling. We sang these words together.

“Bless the Lord O my soul,
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes.”

Sarah is still singing. Her voice isn’t working yet and may never again, but her eyes sing with a peace that none of us understands. And her story is singing as thousands of people are following her recovery and watching as her soul blesses the Lord with no voice and a body that isn’t working.

With suffering comes a morbid but helpful perspective that life is moving fast and earth is not our home. I used to live afraid my life wasn’t going to work out just right. The more I surrender to suffering and joy and whatever God has for me, the more my fear becomes that I won’t spend my life well. I can run farther and longer than I could before. I am not despairing; faith is growing.

Respond:

How would you describe Joseph’s attitude through his years of suffering?

Are you angry with God about the suffering you have faced or are facing?

Adapted from Restless Bible Study Guide by Jennie Allen