God WILL make us ‘FRUITFUL’ through our AFFLICTIONS!
January
14 Bible Reading: Genesis Chapters 40-42
God WILL make us ‘FRUITFUL’ through our AFFLICTIONS!
And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom
Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called
the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my
toil and all my father's house." And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my
affliction."
(Gen 41:50-52)
As we read
the story of Joseph’s life, we can see that God
orchestrated events and placed people in his life so that he could arrive
at the destination that God had planned
for him. Let us look closely at how God
worked behind the scenes to create steps for Joseph to climb in his life
journey. In the later part of Genesis 39, Satan tried to lure Joseph using Potiphar’s
wife as his bait. However, Joseph refused to bite into the allurement and fled
the scene (39:12b). He landed in the special prison where Pharaoh’s prisoners
were confined (39:20). However, God made Joseph
to be fruitful through overseeing the prisoners committed to him by the keeper
of the prison (39:22-23).
Soon after, God allowed Pharaoh’s butler and baker to
land in the same prison where Joseph was incarcerated, and Joseph soon got ample
chances to meet and serve them (40:1-4). While confined in the prison, God gave dreams to both the butler and
baker that caused them enough distress to confide in Joseph (40:5-11, 16-17).
Again, God made Joseph to be fruitful
through divine insights that he received from God for interpreting the dreams
of both the butler and the baker (40:12-15, 18-19). God enabled the butler to be restored in his job of being in close
proximity with Pharaoh, setting the stage for the next event in Joseph’s life
(40:20-23).
It was only
after two long years that God gave Pharaoh two dreams in order to reveal what He was about to do in the land
of Egypt and the land of Canaan, but no one was there in Egypt to interpret the
dreams (41:1-8). Then, God caused the
butler to remember Joseph, who had successfully interpreted his dream
earlier, and through the referral given by the butler, Joseph was brought
before Pharaoh, the highest authority in the land of Egypt (41:9-14). By God’s grace, Joseph could correctly
interpret Pharaoh’s dreams as well (41:15-36), and as the logical next
step, Joseph was put in charge of all the civil administration of Egypt
(41:37-46). Here again we can see that God
made Joseph to be fruitful through his afflictions, and made him to rise up in
position and power to make a difference in saving many people alive in his time
(50:20). It is not surprising that Joseph named his second son ‘Ephraim’
(meaning, fruitfulness) since God has
caused him to be ‘fruitful’ in the land of his affliction.
Please
remember that if we are going through various trials, afflictions and
discouragements today, it may be that God intends us to be fruitful to Him and
others through our lives. Let’s get closer to God to understand His intentions
in allowing us to go through all the problems we are facing today!
