In our times of difficulty and hardship, we tend to turn inward, and look at circumstances. We know we have to double down and trust God. But it is hard.

It’s hard to go on with life and trust that all will work for our good.

It’s hard to trust and so find that inner peace we are promised.

But trusting in God will lead to our peace, and it will bring us joy. And maybe surprisingly, it will lead to fruitfulness.

Faithfulness to God

How it must seem impossible to keep the faith all the time:

when sold into slavery by family members.

in a foreign land all alone.

when tempted by the boss’s riches.

when tempted by the boss’s wife.

when thrown into prison as an innocent.

Any one of these things would challenge me. I hope they have not been your challenge. Yet we know, we read in the papers, that people are trafficked, that droughts and floods steal livelihoods and families and so they flee for another land all alone, that someone steals from companies, that spouses cheat, that innocents are imprisoned.

Horrible things happen today.

God trusts us

We looked at how God trusts us, and even tests us to be certain of our trustworthiness. I don’t believe that he chooses to put us in terrible circumstances, but he uses them to solidify our faith. Like he did with Joseph. God trusted Joseph; God accompanied Joseph.

Amazingly, all these horrible things happened to Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he was sent to a foreign land by himself, he was eventually given a high-ranking job to manage riches. His master’s wife tried to seduce him, and he was thrown in prison for resisting her.

Faithfulness to Fruitfulness

Through it all, he kept the faith (Gen. 41:16, 50-52; 50:20). And God was faithful to him, ‘with him’ (Gen. 39:2, 21; Gen. 50:20).

Just a few years later, probably fewer years than he spent in prison, he has a family and children. Joseph, amazingly I think, named his children after God’s goodness and bounty. The first is named Manasseh, ‘because God has made me forget all my trouble’ (Gen. 41:51). The second child is named Ephraim, ‘because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering,’ (Gen. 41:52).

Joseph was certain of God’s presence and goodness and faithfulness; and he was faithful to God, too. Despite more suffering than I could imagine, Joseph was faithful to God. And that made him fruitful.

I don’t think this is just about having children (I mean, I don’t have any so that would mean this wouldn’t be relevant to me – but I think it is). This is about the attitude that Joseph had. This is about the favor that he found in all these places where it was incredible that he progressed and grew in stature and responsibility. He was level-headed and of good cheer. He was humble and looked to God for answers. He accepted God’s timing. Joseph was fruitful in his character, drawing nearer to God in time and through adversity.

As a youngster when he had a dream from God, he shared it with everyone. He was lavished with praise by his father and hated by his brothers. But somewhere in the difficulty, his roots were fertilized by God and not self or man (dad) and the fruit that came forth was God-breathed. He became fruitful.

Adversity

In biology, adversity often makes plants stop growing; they actually slow and if the conditions are bad enough, the plant even dies. But in recent months, there have been studies that show there are other plants that thrive in adverse conditions*. It would be interesting to hypothesize that God’s people thrive in adversity like these few plants while the world struggles to grow and eventually lose purpose and pass away. It seems that way when we consider Joseph’s thriving life despite hardship.

Praise in fruitfulness

Psalm 105 is a psalm of praise to God, recounting all that he has done for Israel. Verses 16-24 name Joseph and describe his life which led to the family of Jacob settling in Egypt and becoming so fruitful, as Joseph had.

Line after line of the psalm explain how God was sovereign over the circumstances of the nation and even individuals. He was with them and working for their good, fully trustworthy.

He Makes us Fruitful

God takes the adversity of our lives, the struggles, and the challenges, and he uses them to make us fruitful. He tests our faith and that makes it stronger, not weaker. He knows who we are and forms us more like his Son each time we fall on hard times.

Trusting in him is not only about the circumstances coming out well, but about our character being made more like his.

I pray no one will even have to deal with all that Joseph dealt with in his life, test after test. But he thrived in all that mess. He thrived! Despite the surroundings, despite a bleak future, trust in God leads to peace and fruitfulness.

 

* https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/world/extreme-plants-stress-climate-scn/index.html accessed 5 Sept. 2022.