We Never Stay the Same

Tough circumstances of life always change our minds about God. They either force us to doubt what He’s promised, or they draw us closer to Him in faith. But we never stay the same.

Despite his difficult years spent in Egypt, Joseph gave his sons Hebrew names, which revealed his continued faith in God. In naming his firstborn “Manasseh,” Joseph gave God credit as the One who had made him forget the toil and the pain his family had brought him (Gen. 41:51). Joseph’s second son he called “Ephraim,” meaning “fruitfulness,” for Joseph said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Gen. 41:52).

But Egypt would become a land of affliction for more than just Joseph. The dreams that Joseph had interpreted for Pharaoh revealed that God intended to follow seven years of plenty in the land with seven years of famine on the land—a disaster the Nile’s generous water supply could not rise above.

Just as God earlier used natural elements to bring Joseph to Egypt, so the Lord would use the same to bring all nations to Joseph. The famine spread to Canaan, and in order to get food, Joseph’s brothers had to travel the same highway to Egypt by which they had sent Joseph 22 years earlier. God purposed to make the brothers fruitful (like Joseph) in a land of suffering, but not before He first developed faithfulness in them such as Joseph had displayed.

Just as the thread of sovereignty continued to weave through the family of Joseph, so God loops His needle through our lives and draws us close to Him. We must remember in our struggles that our duty lies outside of trying to understand God’s plan. He never asks that of us. Instead, He wants to see our trust in Him, through simple daily obedience, even in a land of affliction and confusion.

Both pain and prosperity require that we bow before God in humility, trust and dependence. Our hearts should long for faithfulness more than certain circumstances.

Faithfulness in carrying out present duties is the best preparation for the future. —Francis Fenelon

Adapted from Wayne Stiles, Going Places with God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2006), 50. Used by permission. Photos courtesy of BiblePlaces.com.