“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Genesis 50:24 (NLT)
One of the things I’ve recognized in my sojourn through God’s Message these many years is that between the promise being made and the promise being fulfilled there’s a whole lot of time filled with a whole lot of suffering. It’s ironic that Joseph lived this principle and now in the end he makes a promise to his family which wouldn’t be fulfilled for hundreds of years after becoming enslaved and suffering at the hands of the Egyptians. His family would walk in his sandals for generations.
Suffering is part of the journey. There is purpose in the pain. I saw this quote from C.S. Lewis that came across my twitter feed yesterday:
“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.”
Along those same lines, I offer another C.S. Lewis quote:
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world
I love this quote, Kyle. Wendy and I are hoping to produce the play “Shadowlands” someday in which this particular quote plays a big role. I don’t think most people have a clue what his own story and personal journey was really like. He certainly had his own share of pain. Thanks!