Whine or Shine

Whine or Shine

Genesis 40:23 (NASB)

23 “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

    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 languished in prison for two more years.

    How awful to have a glimmer of hope that doesn’t materialize or that seems delayed in its fulfillment. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Joseph’s mood or morale during those months. Joseph wasn’t perfect or sinless, so he must have been troubled by the delay. But as we read his story, we come away with a sense of his persevering faith. Nothing negative is said in Scripture about Joseph, and 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.  

    Billy Graham said, “Grumbling and gratitude are, for the child of God, in conflict.”