Either Whine Or Shine!
"Yet the chief butler did not remember
Joseph, but forgot him."
Genesis 40:23
After a decade of slavery and imprisonment, Joseph thought he
had found the ticket out of prison when he befriended Pharaoh’s
chief butler. But the butler forgot about him, and Joseph stayed in
prison for two more years. How awful to have a glimmer of hope
that does not materialize or that seems
delayed in its fulfillment.
The Bible does not tell us much about
Joseph’s mood or morale
during those months. Joseph was not
perfect or sinless, so he
must have been troubled by the delay. But
as we read his story,
we come away with the sense of his
persevering faith. Nothing
negative is said in Scripture about
Joseph. There’s no indication
he fell into the trap of self-pity or grumbling.
Grumbling is a particularly offensive sin before God. The
Israelites grumbled and murmured and complained every
step of the way from Egypt to the Promised Land, incurring
God’s wrath. James 5:9 says, “Do not grumble against one
another.” Jude 16 warns about those who are “grumblers,
complainers, walking according to their own lusts.”
God longs to work within us, so we may obtain His
quality of patience, the ability to handle delays with
grace and gratitude, not with griping and grumbling.
"Grumbling and gratitude are,
for the child of God, in conflict."
Billy Graham
