Flourishing Through Trials (Genesis 41:52)

The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
—Genesis 41:52

What a great sentence: “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” I think about the challenges and afflictions I have walked through, the pain I have experienced in my life. I do not presume to have suffered as much as many who are listening right now—near as much affliction, suffering, or trial—but I reflect on what it has meant to walk through trials.

I think about when my dad, my best friend in the world, died suddenly of a heart attack—the affliction, the pain, the hurt. Yet I can truly say, with Genesis 41:52, that God made that affliction fruitful. I saw God in ways I had never seen him before. I experienced the grace of God, the peace of God, the comfort of God, and the love of God in deeply tangible ways. It was as if God were wrapping his arms of love around my family and around me.

Genesis 41:52 reminds us that God uses our affliction.

I see this not only in my own affliction but also in others’. This week, I walked alongside a family through massive affliction—an unexpected tragedy—and yet witnessed God’s grace and mercy in small ways in the middle of it. I think about being at the hospital recently with another family going through affliction and hearing them share testimony in the waiting room about how God was kind in this way, in a small way, in that small way, and in a big way over here. The fruit of faith was evident. It was deeply faith-building to sit in that waiting room.

None of this is easy. Neither these families nor my family would have chosen to walk through that kind of affliction. No one chooses affliction. Yet God is so gracious, so kind, so good that he takes even our affliction and makes it fruitful.

This verse leads us to thank God for his faithfulness.

We pray:

God, thank you. Thank you for your love, comfort, peace, strength, and faithfulness in the middle of affliction that leads to fruitfulness. I pray for those who are walking through affliction right now. I think about these families I have been in the hospital with and walking alongside this past week. I think about other individuals and families who are walking through deeply challenging times.

God, I pray that you would bring about fruit from these times, that you would show yourself strong, and that they would know your love in greater ways than ever before. May they know your peace in greater ways than they have ever known, and your comfort and the hope found in you in deeper, higher, more wonderful ways than they have experienced.

God, please take affliction and bring about fruit from it. We do not want our affliction to be wasted; we want it to be fruitful. Please bring about Joseph’s conclusion in our lives. May we be able to say, “God has made us fruitful in the land of our affliction.”

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.