Loneliness, rejection, stress, distance from family, cross-cultural environment, injustice, and despair could affect a person in multiple ways. Missionaries in difficult contexts endure these. Even biblical personalities had to go through this furnace of affliction. Medical research states, loneliness accelerates the aging process and hastens death. Many saints of God have paid this cost of serving God’s purpose.
Shorter life span? Joseph died at the age of 110, even before his elder brothers died. (Genesis 50:26) Joseph indeed went through spiritual, physical, emotional, social, and mental stress. Perhaps, that was a reason for his early demise.
Call: Joseph was called by God for a specific purpose. Even as a teenager he had dreams that showed his future career. (Genesis 37:1-5) Later, he connects those dreams and his life purpose. Though he was rejected, mistreated, and sold by his brothers, he understood that God had sent him to Egypt to preserve the lives of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who became the Nation of Israel. (Genesis 45:5-7)
Shocked and Shaken: Joseph was shocked to witness the hateful and violent behavior of his brothers towards him. Thrown in a pit to die, retrieved to be sold as a slave to one party and then to another party, Potiphar. Crisis and traumatic experiences could affect the psyche of a person. Culture shock affects people who are engaged in missions and migrants.
Cross-cultural communication: Joseph had to learn the language of the Egyptians to survive. Learning as a slave would have been more difficult than learning like Daniel as a scholar. This also creates immense mental and emotional stress.
Clash of values: The cultural values of many cultures could be contradictory to the Scripture. Sleeping with the master’s wife was perhaps permissible, but for Joseph, it was clearly forbidden. Daniel cannot eat from the Table of the Emperor.
Connected and cared for: People like to have a sense of belonging, connected, loved, and cared for. Joseph was indeed homesick yearning to return home. (Genesis 40:15) Living away from home, parents, siblings, spouse, and children affects people.
Am I willing to sacrifice for doing His Will?