"The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.'" Genesis 41:52
When Joseph was elevated to rule
over the Egyptian kingdom, he revealed some profound truths gained from the
experiences of his years of adversity. He named his first son, Manasseh for, he
said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's
household" (Gen. 41:51b). His second son was named Ephraim because,
"God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
Whenever God takes us through the
land of affliction, He will do two things through that affliction: 1) He will
bring such healing that we will be able to forget the pain, and 2) He will make
us fruitful from the painful experiences.
God does not waste our afflictions
if we allow Him the freedom to complete the work in us. His desire is to create
virtue that remains during the times of testing so that He can bring us into
the place of fruitfulness in the very area of our testing. He has never
promised to keep us from entering the valleys of testing, but He has promised
to make us fruitful in them. He is the God who turns the Valley of Achor
(trouble) into a door of hope (see Hos. 2:15).
If you are in the valley of
affliction, now is the time to press into Him. When the time comes to bring you
out of this valley, He will heal your memories and bring fruit from this very
time.
No comments:
Post a Comment