Blessed Through Suffering

Genesis 47:7-12

⁷Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” ⁹And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” ¹⁰And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. ¹¹Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹²And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

(ESV)

Thought:
Through Jacob shall come a divine blessing, from him shall come the people of God and from them the saviour of the world. He carries with him an immense blessing, but yet as he himself says, his days have been few and evil.

Though he carries an immense blessing his life has been far from blessed. He has suffered much grief and even though much of it has been his own doing. He is speaking of a common experience shared by many saints.

Though we possess immense blessings… every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3)... we live lives of much suffering… through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)

Was this not the case for our Lord? The king of the world, with all power in his hands. Was mistreated, slandered, abused, unjustly tried, and then murdered by his own people. Yet through his many sufferings, came many blessings for us.

And just like Jacob who blessed Pharaoh, most evidently through his son Joseph, so we shall suffer grief so that others might be blessed. The Christian life shall teach us that it is not all about us getting everything to finally go our way. We shall learn, just as Jesus experienced, that we must sometimes suffer getting the short end of the stick, so that others might be spared it.

Are you ready for such a sacrifice? To have something taken from you, to suffer loss. Not that you might gain something, but that someone else, maybe some you don’t like, someone you don’t even know would be blessed. We shall be rewarded for everything that we do suffer.

But we must understand that our lives here, this side of eternity is forfeit. We might enjoy some blessings, we may enjoy nothing of the pleasures of this world, they may all be drained out by immense suffering. But our blessing is spiritual, in the world to come. Now we lay down our lives to play their part in God’s plan, whether it feel like a life of blessing or a life of curses.

Reflection:
As I go about my day, I need to remember that God's blessing is not measured by how comfortable my life is. It is easy to assume that hardship means something is wrong, yet Jacob, Joseph, and even Jesus suffered greatly while accomplishing God's purposes. Today I need to apply this by viewing difficulties through the lens of eternity, trusting that God can use my sacrifices, disappointments, and trials for the good of others and the glory of His name. My calling is not to avoid suffering at all costs but to remain faithful wherever God places me.

Prayer:
Father, help me not to measure Your goodness by the ease of my circumstances. Give me faith to trust that You are at work even through suffering and loss. Teach me to use whatever You have given me for the blessing of others, and strengthen me to remain faithful as I wait for the inheritance You have prepared for Your people. Amen.