From Seedling to Blossom

“For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Genesis 41:52b

I continue to be amazed at the vast number of prayer requests that funnel into Pastor Ron’s email at our church. Not only do they include medical challenges, financial and vocational challenges but the requests also name loneliness, depression and deep fear. One of the best weapons against these pleas is the word of God. Through the despair of those who walked before us in the Bible, they give both expression to our present pain and the promise of future gain. Their words seem to string together the presence of suffering, the faith of delivery and the gratitude for God. Like Joseph in our morning verse, our hearts need to be reminded that every single detail of our seasons of uncertainty and suffering is used by God. 

I can’t remember a time when so many people are experiencing so many challenges at the same time. Juggling both our challenges and our emotions is exhausting and can seem never-ending. But this tiny verse begs us to remember that God will do something divine with the circumstances we find daunting. It encourages us to recognize ways to be fruitful during the tough times. ‘God will not waste your pain. In fact, God specializes in sowing seeds into the soil of our hardship, seeds that bring forth prolific life and bear fruit in season…. God is able to prosper you in the place of your pain, cultivating life in ways you may never have imagined.’ Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 77.

I wonder what seeds God is sowing through this time in your life? I know you are anxious to start seeing a sprout of life…soil breaking open with growth…something new growing towards your future. Keep looking…it is right there…under the ground just waiting to burst through. When the timing is perfect God will display what He is doing in all our lives. So, as we wait to bear fruit in our challenging circumstances, we will believe with complete confidence that God is watering our seedlings of future fruit. One day we will see our current affliction as a past season where the Divine met the devastation and turned it to beauty.