Longsuffering and thorns of the flesh

I don't have a bad life.  In fact, I am truly blessed. I have a husband that loves me (even if he doesn't understand me most of the time).  I have raised four healthy independent children who have given me 7 of the most beautiful grandchildren an Oma could ever ask for.  Yet, why do I let my life get me down so?  I wish I could be more like Joseph who was the poster child for longsuffering or Paul who lived boldly with his thorn in the flesh. I've never asked God to remove my thorn because I always truly believed that it would produce perseverance and character and hope, but today I'm not feeling so much of the hope part, and this world is getting just a little too much for me.  I'm ready  to move on to a better place.  As Jenny prayed in Forest Gump..."make me a bird so I can fly far away..." 

I think the secret is holding on to God so tightly that the two of you become one. Yep, I wish I could be more like the Joseph as described here in my devotions by David Jeremiah:

We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

Recommended Reading: Genesis 42-44

In our modern society, it is difficult to digest the concept of longsuffering. When we find ourselves in a thorny situation, we often resign to our challenge and wait for the end to come. And if we do suffer, our confrontations are often short lived. How many of us have had to suffer for years . . . or most of our lives?

Joseph did. And he could have easily given in to his inevitably horrible situation. Sold by his brothers, taken to a foreign land, accused wrongly by his master's wife, put in prison--yet Joseph refused to give up. Instead, he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, became a ruling official, and saved the lives of many during the years of famine . . . including the brothers who betrayed him.

Joseph patiently served God, making the most of his situation while exhibiting the sweetness of long-suffering. He had no way of knowing what God had in store for him in the midst of his pain. The emotions he experienced reuniting with his father and saving his family from famine gave him great joy--erasing the years of sorrow. Like Joseph, we need to rest in God's purpose and plan when faced with trials.

If a bird is flying for pleasure, it flies with the wind; but if it meets danger, it turns and faces the wind in order that it may fly higher. Corrie ten Boom