We hear a lot about the patience of Job. And a cursory perusal of his story does indeed portray a man who persevered under a significant amount of persecution. But to be honest, he did a lot of complaining. In fact, out of the first 31 chapters, wait a second while I count, ...18,19, 20 there are 20 chapters devoted to Job' speeches. Tellingly, chapter 31 ends with this: "The words of Job are concluded." (31:40) And I have to admit that not many tears were shed at this.
(Ed note: For those expecting the end of the book, you forgot to factor in Elihu who rambles on from 31 to 37 or seven excruciating chapters. The spell checker suggested "excoriating" and that fits too. When the Lord weighs in, He completely ignores everything Elihu said.)
Now we must credit Job with his initial acceptance of events. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away." (1:21) When his health was attacked and his wife advised that he "curse God and die," he responded, "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" (2:10)
But then through the following 29 chapters there are only three "high spots" where he showed the same perspective.
Job 13:15 "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:"
Job 19:25 "For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:"
Job 23:10 "But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Other than that, it is pretty rough plodding to get through to chapter 38 when God takes over.
Our intention is not to diminish Job's suffering, but to look at some other guy's tribulations. Joseph fits right in here. Joseph had a vision from God, informing him that he would be a person of significance and that people would bow down to him, including his father and mother. He may have been a little ill advised to flaunt that before his brothers, particularly since they disliked "Daddy's boy."
Seriously, I think that he was excited with what God had promised and wanted to share the good news with his brothers. He was not intending to lord it over them, but give them a heads up for what was coming. Regardless of his intentions, they took it wrongly and schemed to murder him. Reuben's intervention saved his life, but then he was shipped off to Egypt and slavery. He was about 17 at the time.
You recall the sordid story of Potiphar's wife seducing him, failing, and then falsely accusing him of rape. (He should have demanded a DNA test to prove his innocence, but I digress.) Then he went from being a slave, to being a prisoner.
"Hey, God. You up there? Are you paying attention?" never crossed his lips. He had been "successful" as a slave in Potiphar's household, and Joseph bent his back to becoming the "best" prisoner he could be. And he succeeded.
Then came the fateful night when two of Pharaoah's servants were thrown into the dungeon. And they each had a dream. "Forget it, boys. Dreams are for fools." (NOT!) Joseph promptly interpreted their dreams for them, and watched them be fulfilled to the minutest detail.
Surely his time had come. He would at least get out of this hole. Well, not quite yet. One more dream had to occur. Just as an aside, had the butler (cup bearer) told Pharaoh and Joseph had been released from prison, would that minor event remained in anybody's memory–besides Joseph's? But when Pharaoh had a dream, the memory was triggered of a guy who could interpret dreams.
Now is your time Joseph. He had been in slavery and prison for 13 years before being elevated to the second position in the kingdom. Not once do we find a word of complaint for God or self pity. Just looking at the names Joseph gave his boys gives us a little insight into his mind set.
Manasseh which means, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."
(Genesis 41:51) And his second son, Epharim means, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." (41:52)
It would be over 7 years later that his brothers actually did bow down to him, but even then he was magnanimous and forgiving. His response to them after his father had died, was,
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Genesis 50:20)
Notice in comparison that Joseph devoted zero chapters to carping and complaining about his bad luck. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he went to work serving other people: Potiphar, the head jailer, even the other prisoners, and finally Pharaoh. And to finish his life, he served his family.
Patience is not generated by a lack of trouble, it is a result of waiting on others while God's plan unfolds. Job was longsuffering, but we might hesitate to call him patient. James 5:11 mentions the "patience" of Job, but translations other than KJV use "endurance."
Joseph was patient while he endured. That is the harder route to travel. Be patient
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