Fruitful

The story of Joseph begins in Genesis 37, and it reads like a sweeping Hollywood narrative. He's the favorite son of his father, Israel. But his brothers hated him, so they threw him in a well, sold him to gypsies, and told their father he has died. Then Joseph is taken all the way to Egypt, and where by the providence of God, he is sold to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials. The Bible tells us in the early verses of Genesis 39 that the Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered in the house of Potiphar. They soon saw how valuable Joseph was, and Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household. Now apparently, Joseph was handsome, and Potiphar's wife took notice. After Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph of sexual misconduct, he was thrown into prison. Things weren't looking so great. 

But as before, the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful - even in prison. The warden took notice of him and made him responsible for all of those held there. As Genesis 40 opens, the cupbearer and the baker for the king had offended their master, as the Bible says, and they found themselves in the same prison as Joseph. They had been there a while when they both had disturbing dreams on the same night. The next morning they both told Joseph their dreams, and God helped Joseph interpret them. One of them had a good outcome. The other did not. And everything that had been foretold in those dreams wound up coming true, and the cupbearer was returned to his position in the court of the king. Joseph had asked him to remember him, but it took the cupbearer two years to do so. 

It was only when Pharaoh had a dream that he did not understand that the cupbearer remembered Joseph, his cell mate. Joseph was quickly brought before the king and was able to interpret the dream with God's help. He warned Pharaoh that a famine was to come on the land, and that the kingdom must be prepared. Pharaoh was so pleased with Joseph that he made him second in command of all of Egypt, and he gave him a wife. She bore him two sons - Manasseh and Ephraim. Eventually, Joseph's actions saved all of Egypt and wound up saving his family - the same family that had left him for dead. It's an amazing story.

But it was in the naming of Joseph's children where I was stopped in my tracks. Genesis 41:52 in particular: “The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.'"

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Indeed, God had made Joseph very fruitful. In fact, you might circle the many times the scriptures say "The Lord was with Joseph.” Even in the darkness of a pit. Even when falsely accused. Even when chained in a prison. Even when standing before a king that could have taken his life. The Lord was with Joseph. But it couldn't have been easy on him. His brothers had betrayed him. A woman had told serious lies about him. Jail is not where you want to find yourself - especially when you're innocent. Yet even through all this hardship, he recognized that God had made him fruitful. God had used him in every single situation in which he had been placed. That is great faith. That is seeing beyond your circumstances and seeing that God is writing a bigger story than your own. Years later, that kind of faith made him say to his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis‬ ‭50:20‬ ‭NIV‬‬)‬‬‬‬

Even though we are in this time of great change and heartache, God can still make us fruitful. Written beside Genesis 41:52 in my Bible was the verse John 15:8: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” That is my goal even during this hard season: to bear much fruit. Even in the land of our suffering, affliction, or grief, God can use us. No matter what we're going through, let's allow Him to make us fruitful so the world will know we are His disciples.