Nov
11
The Pain Game
Have you ever wanted to punch your brother in the face? Really punch him in the face? I dont think you are alone in that matter. Everybody that has siblings seem to have fights, seem to be jealous of one another, envious of one another. It is so true that I will say, I used to be one of those guys.
I love my brother. Whether we were on good terms or bad terms, I loved him and would do anything for him.
Joseph and his brothers went through a crazy time. Jealousy, anger, rage, deception, slavery, lies, tricks and many other words can describe what Joseph and his brothers went through.
Although, there is a beauty to the story of Joseph and his brothers. There is a beauty of love, respect, honor and redemption in this story. Joseph was the golden child. Born of Rachel to Jacob, Joseph was the favorite. Not only did Jacob/Israel show it, Joseph was also given dreams and things that cemented this idea that he was the golden child. Joseph’s brothers didn’t take too kindly to that notion. The brothers then sold Joseph into slavery, lied to Jacob that Joseph was dead, and left Joseph to whatever fate he may have had happen.
The phenomenal aspect of this story is that Joseph never changes. Throughout the story of Joseph, “the Lord was with Joseph”, that was the key. Joseph knew that God had plans. He knew that even though this pain and suffering was happening to him, there was a plan.
In Chapter 45 of Genesis, we see the culmination of all of the pain, suffering and testing of the story come to a peak. Joseph has all of his brothers in one room and weeps. Joseph explains that even though, they did all this stuff to him, even though he was put into slavery, convicted of raping his master’s wife, even though he was thrown into prison, that God had plans. God was the one that sent him, Joseph, to Egypt, so that Joseph could prepare the way for life. God brought him to Egypt and graced him with judgement, power and honor in Pharaoh’s eyes so that when the time came, Joseph would be able to provide for his brothers and his father Jacob.
It’s amazing when we look at this from Joseph’s eyes and perspective. Because not only did Joseph go through an immense amount of pain, torture and misfortune, he gave Glory to God throughout the whole of his life.
Pain is something that we all go through. Maybe it is because of a sibling, maybe it is because of someone else that you are close with.
Here is my conclusion: that pain brings suffering, but suffering can bring joy. A joy that is not of this world, a joy that can only be explained through the Love that God has for each and every one of us. The question of why do bad things happen to good people, while still hard to sometimes explain, I firmly believe it is because at some point in our lives, we may see the end or we may not see the end, but at some point in our lives, that pain and suffering that we are facing will bring us joy and happiness in the future.
God does not use evil to prove a point. God does not wish to see evil happen to our lives. We have sinned first which brought pain and suffering into the world.
We as Christ followers, as children of God, need to know that at some point in our lives, God will use whatever it is that has happened in our lives for joy and happiness.
I am also convinced that even though I firmly believe that pain and suffering will bring joy and happiness at some point in everyone’s lives, that does not take away from the sting that pain and suffering will bring in the moment. Fights, death, tragedies and other painful situations will bring tears, hurt, and questions. But through reading the story of Joseph, I am thoroughly convinced that at some point or another, the pain and suffering that we will face, will bring about joy and happiness in the future.
Unfortunately, there seem to be some kinds of pain and suffering that bring no joy or happiness, ever. I’m thinking of injustices like children being abused, entire tribes of people living in garbage dumps with their children dying of painful disease. Just no joy and happiness–ever. Perhaps these kinds of injustice are what we should truly be angry and broken about. Sibling rivalries, not so much.
I dont think i was going for a focus on just sibling rivalry. I think I am more talking about the endurance it takes to get through the pain to find the joy and happiness. The social injustices of the world are, your right, outrageous and definitely not something that will usually bring joy. I think of the stories of the girls that have been part of the sex trade that have been rescued and pushed through the memories and pushed through their pain to start a new life. I totally agree though that some injustices will not bring joy or happiness. I think the endurance that we have is what will drive us to find that joy or happiness in the end.