Uganda IBS 14 - Waiting for the outcome.

Genesis 41:52
"The name of the second he called Ephraim: for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." 
Here Joseph has just risen to power in Egypt because the Pharaoh saw that the Spirit of God was with him. Joseph went from prisoner to second in command over all of Egypt. Entering into his plentiful years Joseph married and had two sons. The first was Manasseh which means "making forget" and the second was Ephraim which means "making fruitful". The meanings behind their names represented God's faithfulness in Joseph's life. Joseph saw that God's Spirit stayed with him through all his afflictions. First his brothers wanted to kill him but then they decided to sell him. As a slave he's brought down to Egypt and sold to a an Egyptian officer that finds favor with him being that the Spirit was with him. Joseph is then framed for a crime that he didn't commit and put in jail. Through all of this Joseph still trusted in God. Joseph didn't know it but God had a plan for his father's family and Joseph's affliction was a big part of the fulfillment to that plan. Because Joseph stayed faithful and patient he was able to forget and be fruitful seeing the purposes of his afflictions revealed. We don't know God's plan in our life and if we did we'd try to change it because we only see the process and not the outcome. Trouble may be in our life that can cause us to be mad with God but that trouble could be the very thing saving us in the outcome. For example because Joseph became Pharaoh's right hand he was able to save his family from the famine that lasted seven years. Without Joseph's afflictions Israel would have suffered. God is looking out for us always and even in our suffering we should know to stand strong in faith. Today the boat that takes me across the lake was late about an hour, at first I was frustrated but in applying this scripture I trust that it was God's purpose; I find myself forgetting the trouble, And possibly even enjoy the fruits of having avoided an accident on my bike ride back to Negombe.

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