Joseph's Trouble

I've been thinking a lot lately about my short view of suffering. I get so frustrated about any sort of suffering that lasts longer than a few weeks. I try to figure out why it is happening, and what I need to change to make it stop, and on and on and on. But while Jesus promises trials to believers, He never says that they will ever be resolved in this life. As an example, we have Paul, who prays for the "thorn in the flesh" to be removed and comes to accept that his continuing suffering is somehow part of God's plan, even though it seems to be hindering his effectiveness in ministry. God certainly doesn't give us a schedule of His plan. How arrogant to expect one!

I have been especially pondering this issue in light of the believers of the Old Testament. I just finished reading about the life of Joseph. Here is a man of God in prison for a crime he did not commit. He has been serving his best even in prison, and suddenly there is a ray of hope--a man whose dream he has explained will be released, and has promised to plead his case before the Pharoah himself! And then...nothing happens. For two years.

For two years, Joseph sits in prison. Was he examining and re-examining his life for secret sins to explain why he is there in the first place? Was he hoping for release, and giving up, and hoping, and giving up, over and over? We know that it all turns out for the good, and eventually Joseph will know that, too. Meanwhile, he sits in prison, waiting for a deliverance he is uncertain will ever come.

"Better Than I"
(Joseph's song in prison,
from Joseph: King of Dreams)

~~~~~
I thought I did what's right

I thought I had the answers

I thought I chose the surest road

But that road brought me here

So I put up a fight

And told You how to help me

Now just when I had given up

The truth is coming clear
~~~

For You know better than I

You know the way

I let go the need to know why

For You know better than I
~~~

If this has been a test

I cannot see the reason

But maybe knowing "I don't know"

Is part of getting through

I try to do what's best

And faith has made it easy

To see the best thing I can do

Is put my faith in You
~~~

For You know better than I
You know the way
I let go the need to know why
For You know better than I
~~~

I saw one cloud and thought it was the sky

I saw a bird and thought that I could follow

But it was You who taught that bird to fly

If I let you reach me, will You teach me

~~~
For You know better than I

You know the way

I let go the need to know why

I'll take what answer You supply

'Cause You know better than I