Fruitful in the land of suffering

The second son he named Ephraim and said, “it’s because God has made me fruitful in the land of suffering” Gen 41:52

Jesus warned us that in the world we would endure suffering, yet He has overcome the world. (Jn 16:33)  No one has probably suffered like Jesus did in Gethsemane and on the cross, yet he endured all for the joy of our salvation which was the fruit of His suffering. (Heb 12:2)  He was intimately acquainted with our griefs and sorrows talking them for us on the cross. (Is 53:4)  The God of the universe, Creator or all, suffered for a people to be redeemed by His blood, and the eternal fruit of His suffering will be ongoing even to the Day when He winds all things up to dwell with His people on a new heaven and new earth.  It was this fruit that kept Him stayed on the path of suffering and obedience for his momentary affliction could not be compared the the Glory that was and still is to come (as the Apostle Paul so adequately proclaimed. 2Cor 4:7.) Jesus had an eternal perspective and not a temporal one as He endured the most horrific suffering at the hands of those he came to save.

This in no way negates the pain of the suffering. Jesus’ sweat was like drops of blood so excruciating was the suffering He knew He had to endure for our freedom (Lk 22:34), but His focus and trust was in Father whom He knew wouldn’t leave His body to rot in the grave (Ps 16:10) and the promise  that “after He has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” (Is 53:11). It does help to know that no suffering is wasted and that God will always bring out eternal fruit from the things which we have suffered if we do not remain trapped in the pain and memory of it.

Many blame God in their times of suffering, or for past suffering and they can harden their hearts towards Him. There are only two responses to suffering. We can run to God or run away from Him when we lay blame at His feet.

We have many examples of people who endured suffering in the bible, and yet rose from the ashes of their pain, enduring and standing firm in their quiet trust in God. When we look at  Joseph’s life and recognise the unfairness of his treatment, we can see that Joseph could have succumbed to bitterness and railed at God for the rejection and unfair treatment of his brothers as well as Potiphar when wrongly accused.  He was thrown into goal and forgotten for a time before he was promoted to second most influential man in Egypt.  Joseph had just cause to complain for all that life had dished up to him.  As a teen, God had given him amazing dreams, but he could have tossed this all aside and become bitter and twisted in an “unfair” world.  Had this been Joseph’s response to his suffering, his family would never have been saved from famine and the whole of history would have been changed.  So what kept Joseph focused throughout his ordeal.  A simple phrase that is repeated throughout his story - “the Lord was with him.”  Joseph knew that His suffering was for a great purpose. “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God...” (Ex 45: 7-8)

This is what suffering is all about. When we endure and are healed, we then have authority to take others through to deliverance and healing.  However, we can remain in the unfairness of it all and have an excuse to maintain our right to self pity and strengthen our focus in a victim mentality.  We have a choice, the pain of coming to the Lord and being healed or the continual pain of being in bondage never to receive healing and go round the mountain again and again, like a worn out record, wearing ourselves into depression and sorrow.

Let me ask a question. Was it fair for Jesus to go to the cross for our sin?  It doesn’t bear thinking about if He hadn’t set his face like flint to endure, we would all still be lost in our sin and condemned to an eternal hell.  But God was rich in mercy and gave His only Son to die on a cross for us,  The benefits of the cross that come to us through His suffering and obedience are astounding. The fruit of His obedience has opened a new way for our reconciliation to Father and a new covenant with better promises including healing for spirit, soul and body.

Joseph too, in the land of his suffering, saw the fruit of the salvation of his family and the people of Egypt.  He didn’t blame God but recognised that throughout his ordeal God was with him and the end result was the favour and positioning of God to make a real difference in the land.

Life happens and we can remain stuck in the past, or like Joseph, forgive and recognise a higher calling and that God will never forsake us because He has a greater plan.  He will weave our suffering into His large plan to exact vengeance on the enemy of our soul and give a double recompense for what we have endured.  Put away the past and look forward in expectation to see His mighty hand move in and through you to right that which was wrong and advance His Kingdom.