Are You Fruitful? (Read Genesis 41:37-57) Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. (Genesis 41:39-40) Thirteen years ago, God gave Joseph a dream in which he saw himself ruling and reigning. Did that seem unlikely for a seventeen year old boy? Of course. Was he thrilled by the prospect of it? Absolutely. But because the dream came from God, it was also carried out by Him, and eventually brought into reality. And now as a thirty year old, Joseph stood in the reality of that dream as Pharaohs right hand man. No one was more powerful than Joseph in the whole land of Egypt except Pharaoh. It was a very difficult thirteen years that Joseph had just experienced. But through all the jealousy and hatred of his brothers, and being sold into slavery by them; through the misunderstanding in Potiphers house and his being thrown into prison; through the interpreting of others dreams and being forgotten by them afterwards; through it all, The Lord was with Joseph (Gen. 39:2, 21 & 23; 40:8). We all go through difficult periods in our Christian lives. We often wonder when these times will end. But there is one undeniable fact as we go through them, God is with us. With all the difficulty now behind Joseph, he was quickly married and had two sons. In his new reality, what can we learn? How about learning from what he called his sons? To the first he gave the name Manasseh. Why? Joseph explained it in this way: God has made me forget all my hardship and all my fathers house (41:51). To the second son, Joseph gave the name Ephraim. Why? Joseph explains, For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction (41:52). In his sons names we find two key words: forget and fruitful. Had Joseph suddenly forgotten the fact that he was thrown into a pit by his hateful brothers and sold into slavery, where he was falsely accused of trying to rape Potiphars wife? No. The memory was still there, just like a scar is still visible on our bodies. What was forgotten was the pain that came along with it. In his case it wasnt physical pain, but psychological pain. Throughout those thirteen years Joseph had two options, to allow his past to define him, or to forget his past and grow from it. Joseph was helped by God to choose the latter. Was that an easy thing to do? Definitely not. But God has the way to make it happen. The second key word is fruitful. We all want to be fruitful, right? When we are able to forget, then we will be fruitful. First, we have Mannaseh, then we have Ephraim! Look at your life. What is there in your past that needs to be forgotten? Not in terms of a memory, but rather those shaping or destructive emotions. What causes feelings to resurface again? What causes ill feelings to rise up within you about certain people in your past? What are you holding onto? What wont you just let go? Who can you just not forgive? Which conversation do you keep replaying in your head? What unkind words said to you can you just not forget? Will you begin the dialogue with God that allows Him to bring about the forgetting in you? That will allow your healing to begin. And even more than that, it will allow Ephraim (fruitful) to be born in you. Nobody wants to live a life that is defined by the hurt and injury of our past. We all want a fruitful and productive life. Are you living and enjoying a fruitful life?
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 13:20:24 +0000
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