The Dark Soil of Tragedy
Continuing the Conversation…
Finding Faith in the Sorrow of Loss
“We can no more imagine the good things He has waiting ahead for us, both in this life and in the life to come, than Jacob could have imagined his lost boy alive and ruling in Egypt”
A Tragic Story of Loss
A foul harvest springs from a band of brothers gone bad. Violence fertilizes seeds of jealousy. Conspiracy, slave-trafficking, and cruel deceptions produce bitter fruit served to an aging father. Yet, in the Genesis story, God transforms the soil of sorrow into a blessing for nations. The saga begins:
“When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph's robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water. ... Judah said to his brothers, ’What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,’ and his brothers agreed. ... So they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. ... His father recognized it. ‘It is my son's robe,’ he said. ‘A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!’ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ... Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.” (Genesis 37:23-24, 26-27, 31, 33-34, 36 CSB)
Sorrow Transformed to Blessing
The treachery of his sons broke Jacob’s heart with unexpected grief. Years later, it would burst with unimagined joy. In the “meanwhile,” mourning watered the black soil of what Jacob believed he lost. Yet all along, God gathered his tears during the dark in-between to transform them into a salvation beyond all expectation. The spade of sorrow planted seeds to bring forth a harvest of rescue—both for a nation and the family who would become a nation of their own. What Jacob believed to be his greatest tragedy preserved his progeny for generations to come.
“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please, come near me,’ and they came near. ‘I am Joseph, your brother,’ he said, ‘the one you sold into Egypt. ... God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.’” (Genesis 45:4, 7 CSB)
Faith for the Way Forward
Jacob buried his heart under the lie that his son was dead. But the lie did not hold the final word. When God’s plan bore the fruit of his purpose, Jacob’s feeble heart revived with new life and faith. God ‘s trustworthy promise to bless overcame the lie of unending loss.
With God, goodness always waits ahead for us, even if we cannot see beyond the horizon of this world. Even if a lie whispers in the dark and haunts our hearts as we try to persevere. Even if the soil we tread through seems cruel and sucks us down. God never forgot his patriarch in pain, and he doesn’t forget us. Faith to endure the heartache of today and lean toward future blessing calls upon our deepest courage.
Dare we have faith to believe that what feels lost to us under God’s care may instead plow fertile ground for unimagined blessing? Wholeness waits for all who hold tight to trust and follow God into the fullness of his time.
Quote Reference: L.B. Cowman, Springs in the Valley, (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan: 1977) 96