Reading the Bible is a good way to learn about ancient history, but, if that is all we get out of it, we have missed its most valuable lesson. The actions and reactions of its many characters are recorded so that we may learn from their experiences and avoid the pitfalls ourselves.
Many times we have read in Hebrews 12:6 “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” When trouble comes, however, we are apt to complain and feel unjustly treated. At such times we should call to mind the words of Hebrews 12:11, “Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby.”
One of the things we are admonished to be, in Romans 12:12, is “patient in tribulation.” This is much easier said than done, but perhaps it will help to consider some of the examples of tribulation that have resulted in great good.
When Joseph was a boy of seventeen, loved by his father but hated by his brethren, he must have been very unhappy when his brothers plotted against him and sold him to a caravan of merchants, who carried him to Egypt and sold him to an officer of Pharaoh, named Potiphar. Joseph must have suffered great loneliness as a slave in Potiphar’s house, but he conducted himself well and found favor with his master, who soon made him overseer over his house.
Then, through no fault of his own, a new calamity came upon him. He was unjustly accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison in disgrace. There, too, Joseph gained favor with the keeper of the prison, who put him in charge of the prisoners. In Genesis 39:21, we read that “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy” but it was two full years before he got out.
All this was certainly tribulation, but in Genesis 45:5 Joseph explains to his brothers, who had come to Egypt to buy corn, “Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life.”
We are all familiar with the outcome. Joseph brought his family down to Egypt because of the famine in Canaan.
When we read the story of Joseph, we see the hand of God in the circumstances that caused him to be taken to Egypt, but, at the time these things were happening to him, Joseph did not know what the end would be.
Being a Christian in the early days was a perilous choice to make, and, when Stephen was stoned and Saul was persecuting those who followed the teachings of Christ, the way looked very dark. After Stephen’s death, there was so much persecution that the believers were “scattered abroad.” It would have been hard to see a “silver lining” in the dark cloud that hung over Christianity in those days. Yet, the believers who were thus scattered, spread the preaching of the Truth wherever they went, instead of staying in Jerusalem and its environs. Thus, many heard the good news of the Gospel, who would otherwise not have come in contact with it.
After his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul engaged in preaching, and eventually made several missionary journeys. One of his expressed desires was to see Rome (Acts 19:21). His wish came true, but only after much tribulation. When he was arrested in Jerusalem, imprisoned, and finally taken to Rome as a prisoner, suffering hardships and shipwrecked on the way, I’m sure that was not the way he had planned to see Rome, but it was all in the purpose of God.
The life of Christ provides us with a striking example of how trouble, suffering and death led to eternal redemption for those who believe on Him.
No one likes to suffer, but when tribulations come, it is well to remember that God often uses present troubles to prepare us for, or to provide others with future blessings, and we should endure with patience, even though we can not see what good will come of it.
God’s ways are not our ways, and we must trust Him to know what is best for us.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One