November 12, 2025 • 31 mins
Do you believe that the Lord will bring fruit in your life through affliction?
Today, I'm getting passionate on the podcast as I preach the truth to myself - and you all get to listen. I briefly examine two specific examples in the lives of Leah and Joseph. Both afflicted, though in different ways, they experienced how the Lord saw their suffering and eventually answered them in the midst of it. They both came to a place where they could praise the Lord and bless Him for the affliction they walked through because it bore fruit.
Can we and will we do the same? That's my challenge to you and to myself today: as we walk through suffering, will we trust the character of God who has proven Himself to us again and again? Or will we depend on our own emotions, what we see, and how we feel?
Scriptures referenced:
- Genesis 29:31-35
- Genesis 41:50-51 (And listen to Voddie Baucham's sermon, "Let That Stuff Go"!)
- Romans 8:28
- Mark 4:13-20
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
You can find me on Instagram / Threads
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Questions? Comments? Email me at: carrie@ps8116.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Hey everyone, welcome to episode six of Honey
from the Rock.
I'm glad you're here.
I hope wherever this episodefinds you that you are hanging
in there this week.
I know there is a lot going onfor a lot of people because it
is the middle of November andthis is craziness.
And Thanksgiving is only twoweeks and one day away.
(00:32):
And I literally don't understandhow we've got gotten to this
point in the year.
It's just, I know it's been acrazy year in so many different
ways for so many people.
And so I hope, I hope whereveryou're listening to uh this
episode, whatever you've got infront of you that you are, that
(00:54):
you are hanging in there so far.
And if you are like me and youcan't wait for 2025 to just kind
of wrap up and be over, friend,we are so close.
We are so close.
Um, we thank you, Jesus, for theday that you've given us.
And we also look forward to theend of of this year.
(01:15):
Because it's been, it's been adoozy.
I know it's been a doozy for alot of people on a lot of
different levels.
So, and that's actually kind ofwhat I want to talk about today.
I mean, not really, I mean, anot the word doozy, uh, but um,
I mean, I we've talked a lotabout affliction, talked a lot
about suffering, um, talked alot about loving the Lord in
(01:38):
these first few episodes.
And today I actually wanted toread a couple of verses from the
Old Testament and take a look atthem because they are two
sections of scripture that theLord has really used to minister
to me in the last couple ofdays.
And they are things that I amsitting with and wrestling with,
and and and that's usually whereI am when I'm coming to record
(02:01):
an episode.
I am not coming to an episodehaving all of the answers.
I mean, God forbid, it's likePaul says in Philippians 3, not
that I have attained.
Heck no.
Uh, so usually when I'm comingto record episodes, yes, they're
there are things that I'velearned, things that I've walked
through, things that I've grownin with Jesus, but they're also
(02:22):
sometimes things that I'm stillcurrently working through or
wrestling through.
And sometimes just talking themout helps bring clarity.
So today I is is more of theformer rather than the latter.
I've read these verses before.
They've ministered to me before,but they they just hit me in a
(02:44):
different way today.
And I wanted to take some timeand encourage you.
Uh, encourage and encouragemyself in the Lord, encourage
one another in that whateverstate we find ourselves in
before Jesus, whatever we'regoing through, that he is always
(03:05):
working a deeper purpose that wecan't see.
And I was reminded of that againtoday, uh, in the midst of
crying out to the Lord andwrestling with him on some
things, and and really, reallyjust pouring my heart out to him
in where I was struggling withthings that have happened this
year, and and pouring out my ownmy own lack of understanding, my
(03:29):
own inability right now in acouple of areas in my life to
see his will clearly, where heis really requiring me to wait
on him.
I was drawn again to theseverses out of Genesis uh to see
that the Lord in hisfaithfulness, he sees us, he
hears us, he requires us towait, and in his appointed time,
(03:54):
he brings forth fruit from ouraffliction.
And so I'm going to read thesetwo sets of verses uh today, and
I pray just as I talk about themand share some of the insights
that the Lord gave me, that thatthese that these lessons and
these things that that are we'remining from the word of the Lord
(04:18):
that they that they teach us andthey bless us.
But even more than that, again,like I said a few episodes ago,
when we get in the word, thatwe're not going just to be, you
know, well, what is Jesus sayingto me?
What is the word saying to me?
But first and foremost, thatwhen I read the word and when
I'm getting into scripture, thatI am seeking the Lord to reveal
(04:40):
his character to me, that Iwould get deeper revelation of
who he is, first and foremost.
Not my ideas about who I thinkhe should be or what he should
do in my life or anything likethat.
But first and foremost, this isthe word of God.
It is breathed out by the HolySpirit, it is the truth to us,
(05:00):
it is it is the Lagos word ofGod, and and we need to read it
first and foremost, asking himto reveal himself to us because
that's what his word does.
And it's on him, it's on Jesus,it's on the revelation of the
Lord that everything else isbuilt.
And so as I read Genesis 29, andthen as I read a couple of
(05:24):
verses from Genesis 41, I praythat as we as we sit with these
scriptures, that we would askthe Lord to reveal parts of his
character that we either havenot really dug deeply into or
things that we think we knowabout him that he wants to turn
on its head and reveal himselfto us in a deeper way.
(05:49):
And so I'm actually going totalk about two members of
Jacob's family who probably, Imean, scripture doesn't talk a
lot about these two particularpeople together, but you have to
wonder at some point (06:01):
was there enmity, was there strife?
We don't know.
Um, but they are two people whohad huge impact on Jacob and had
a huge impact on the future ofIsrael, and ultimately had huge
impact when it comes to beingthe line, the the giving birth
(06:24):
to the to the man Judah, uh whowould eventually become the
tribe of Judah, which is thetribe that that Jesus, that
scripture tells us that Jesuswas from the line of the tribe
of Judah.
So Genesis 29, 31 through 35,and this is in the NASB, is
about Leah.
So consider these words.
(06:44):
Now the Lord saw that Leah wasunloved, and he opened her womb,
but Rachel was unable to havechildren.
Leah conceived and gave birth toa son, and named him Reuben, for
she said, Because the Lord hasseen my affliction, now my
husband will love me.
(07:06):
Then she conceived again andgave birth to a son, and said,
Because the Lord has heard thatI am unloved, therefore he has
given me this son also.
So she named him Simeon, and sheconceived again and gave birth
to a son, and said, Now thistime my husband will become
attached to me, because I haveborne him three sons.
(07:30):
Therefore his name was Levi.
And she conceived again and gavebirth to a son, and said, This
time I will praise the Lord.
Therefore she named him Judah.
Then she stopped havingchildren.
So there's that beautifulsection about Leah.
(07:51):
And then the second section ofscripture I want to read is out
of Genesis 41.
And this is right after Josephhas come to power in Egypt,
right?
Being set as the second, as thesecond most powerful man in
Egypt.
He is Pharaoh's right-hand man.
He he marries an Egyptian woman.
I believe she is the daughter ofa um prophet or she's a
(08:15):
prophetess of a god in Egypt.
Um, and she and and he he hastwo children with this woman.
And here's what Joseph names hischildren.
He doesn't give them Egyptiannames, he gives them Hebrew
names.
And he says, um, so this isGenesis 41.
Now, before the year of faminecame, two sons were born to
(08:39):
Joseph, whom Asinaeth, thedaughter of Potiphirah, priest
of An, bore to him.
Okay, those I cannot read thosenames, but also, yes, she was uh
she was the daughter of apriest.
Joseph named the firstbornManasseh, for he said, God has
(09:00):
made me forget all my troubleand all of my father's
household, and he named thesecond Ephraim, for he said, God
has made me fruitful in the landof my affliction.
And that's the question I wantto ask you today.
In the land of the afflictionthat you have walked through,
(09:21):
can you see where the Lord hasborne fruit out of it?
And I know many, many, manytimes when we are walking
through things that aredifficult, when we find
ourselves in the midst of thedepths of grief, when we find
ourselves absolutelybrokenhearted by betrayal or
(09:44):
filled with shame because ofsomething we've done, and and we
know that the Lord is eitherdealing with us or he's
requiring of us or he's silentand we can't find him.
Do we trust that Jesus Christ isgoing to bear fruit in the land
of our affliction?
And so between these two peoplein scripture, and I and this is
(10:06):
just a little bit of an aside,but I feel like it's important
to say, I never want to callthem characters because
characters imply that they mightbe made up somehow.
And these are people, these arereal people who lived in
history, who lived lives thatthat Yahweh absolutely impacted
and changed and used for hisglory and to bring about his
(10:32):
will.
And so we have Leah.
We have Leah who was soscripture tells us here that she
was unloved.
And actually, in the originalHebrew, when you go to look that
up, it means she was hated.
Leah knew that she was hated byher husband.
That had to be a devastatingthing to live through.
And in it, she was she wasdesperate for the love of her
(10:55):
husband.
She was desperate to be caredfor by him.
And she knew what I love aboutthis section of scripture is she
knew the Lord saw heraffliction.
She knew the Lord heard hercries in her loveless marriage,
(11:18):
and that the Lord opened herwomb and gave her sons as an
opportunity for Jacob to turn toher.
And we see, we can read Leah'sdesperation in her affliction,
in the thing that her heartdesired the most, which was the
love of her husband.
Maybe this time he will love me,maybe this time he will attach
(11:42):
himself to me.
I've borne him three sons.
Maybe, maybe he will love menow.
And you can sense the yearningand the desire in Leah to be
loved by her husband and to havesome sort of esteem from him.
And and and then along comesJudah.
(12:04):
And what does Leah say?
She doesn't say anything abouther husband when Judah is born.
What she says is, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And I just think that is one ofthe most beautiful pieces of
scripture because really you canread in it.
(12:25):
I have wanted the attachment ofmy husband.
I have desired and yearned forhis love.
And I know that these sons are agift to me from God because
Yahweh has seen my affliction.
And yet after three sons, Istill have nothing.
(12:49):
And so when she has Judah, whenshe has her fourth son, she
says, This time, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And to me, reading that, thereis there is a contentedness in
Leah saying, you know what, Ihave not gotten the affection of
my husband, but I have I havethe love of the Lord.
(13:14):
I have the gifts that he hasgiven me in my children.
And this time I'm not going toseek anything from my husband
with this child.
I am simply going to praise theLord.
I'm simply going to worship theLord.
And there is something, there issomething so beautiful about
(13:37):
that.
And I've read this scripture amultitude of times.
But today, reading it again, Iso identified with the yearning
in Leah.
You know, she wanted somethingso deeply.
And and the Lord so cared forthis woman who had been part of,
(13:59):
I don't know, I can't remember,and so forgive my ignorance
right now, but I'm pretty surethat Laban decided to um swap
Leah and Rachel.
I don't, I can't remember if Idon't think Leah had a part in
it.
Uh, but she knows instantly thenext morning after she's married
(14:19):
Jacob that that he despises her.
And and that he he's justabsolutely besotted with Rachel,
and that nobody will evermeasure up to her in his eyes.
And and he so much so that hedecides to work seven more
years, seven more years forRachel.
(14:40):
And he and and Jacob is so clearabout his preference for her.
And and Leah finds herself in ain a devastating situation where
she is married to a man whohates her.
But the Lord does not hate her.
He sees this woman and he seesher affliction, he sees the
(15:03):
desire her desire, her yearningfor connection with her husband
and affection from him, andopens her womb.
I it's just it's amazing to me.
And and and I think it is justone beautiful example of how the
Lord moves for us.
It looks different in differentways, obviously, but he is not
(15:30):
immune to the heartbreak of hischildren.
I mean, you can see how thiscould tie into when the Lord
calls Moses and he says, I haveheard the cries of my children,
Israel.
He and my heart breaks for that.
He is not immune to thesuffering of his children.
(15:52):
He never has been, and he neverwill be.
And he works what is best forus.
He does things for us out of thedelight of a father's heart
towards us, things that willbring us to a place where we can
know him more deeply.
But what I love about this isthat in the midst of there was
(16:15):
there was blessing andaffliction in Leah's life.
The blessing was herfruitfulness.
She had four sons, and theaffliction was her husband hated
her.
And and through it all, shefinally comes to the place where
it seems like she has justsurrendered her relationship
(16:35):
with Jacob to the Lord becauseby the time Judah is born, she
says, This time, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And then she stopped havingchildren.
With this last child, I'm goingto give thanks to the Lord for
all he has done.
And I'm just gonna trust him.
(16:57):
And it's so important in themidst of our affliction, in the
midst of our suffering, in themidst of grief, and again, in
the midst of blessing, in themidst of blessing, to be able to
say with whatever we aredesiring, where we have asked
the Lord and we have beseechedhim, and we are crying out to
him for answers or forunderstanding or for wisdom,
(17:17):
that we hit a point that we cansay with Leah, no matter what
has happened in this Lord, I'mgoing to praise you.
I am going to praise you in themidst of my affliction.
Lord, I'm going to praise youeven if I don't get what I've
asked you for.
And I'm not going to ignore theother blessings in my life that
(17:40):
you have chosen to give me.
I am willing to let this thingthat I've held on to so tightly,
whatever it is for each one ofus, whether it's a relationship
or it's a friendship or it's ajob or it's a dream or it's a
calling that we thought would goa different way or whatever it
(18:03):
is, to hit a point in it whereit says, you know what, Lord, I
say to you, I don't know whatyou're doing, Lord, but this
time, in this moment, I'm goingto praise you.
And I am going to thank you forthe blessings that you've
already given me.
And I'm not going to do it insome resigned, like sad potato,
(18:25):
like this time I'm going topraise the Lord.
No, Lord, you have done so muchfor me.
And in this moment, this time,this time, I'm not going to hope
that that whatever happens isgoing to bring about the thing
that I want.
No, Lord, I am going to praiseyou.
I am going to praise you.
(18:45):
And so with Leah's example, andthen looking at Joseph, looking
at Joseph, who was sold intoslavery by his brothers, was in
prison, was forgotten by umPharaoh's uh cupbearer, I
believe, when he had the dream,you know, spent 14 years in
prison, was wrongly accused,falsely accused by Potiphar's
(19:09):
wife of rape and of insultingher.
All of these things that Josephwent through.
He's that he suffered at thehands of other people.
And yet he was so faithful tothe Lord.
And he he, I mean, the motto ofthat man's life, how can I do
this thing and sin against God?
And so we see Pharaoh bestowingon Joseph the highest honor that
(19:34):
he could give someone withoutgiving them the whole land of
Egypt and making them Pharaoh.
Because Joseph wisely advisedhim on his dreams with the fat
cows and the sickly cows and theplentiful ears of corn and the
wilted ears of corn.
(19:55):
And here Joseph is, he's he ishe is a foreigner, he is not
Egyptian, and he has married anEgyptian woman.
They've given him an Egyptianname.
And and and Vodhi Bakum has suchan amazing message about this
called You Gotta Let That StuffGo.
It's so good.
Um, but he points out all ofthese foreign entities in
(20:18):
Joseph's in Joseph's names, buthe and and and the things that
he's given and the position thathe's given.
And yet when his children areborn, the names that he give, he
gives them point back to the Godthat he has always served, the
one true God.
(20:40):
And again, those names areManasseh, for God has made me
forget all my trouble and all ofmy father's household, which is
so interesting.
And then Ephraim, for God hasmade me fruitful in the land of
my affliction.
I can't imagine how many timesJoseph laid in that prison cell
(21:04):
after Potiphar's wife uh falselyaccused him, and he just
wondered, How did I get here?
Why am I here?
Lord, what are you doing?
Have I done something to makeyou angry?
And I and again, I don't want toadd to or take away scripture,
but just knowing my own humanfrailty and my own propensity,
(21:24):
like having not experiencedsomething like what Joseph
walked through, just to be like,Lord, why are you doing this?
What have I missed you in someway?
Have I sinned against you insome way?
All the questions I tend to askmyself and ask the Lord when I'm
going through somethingdifficult.
But when when Joseph getsmarried and he has these two
(21:46):
sons, the Lord restoressomething in Joseph, and you can
see it in the names of hischildren.
And I love Manasseh's name.
God has made me forget all mytrouble.
And so interesting, and all myfather's household, which we see
just a couple of chapters laterwhen his brothers show up, he's
wary of them and he tests themto see if they are still the
(22:09):
same brothers who threw him intoa pit and sold him to a slaver
as they were when he was young.
But we see that when he realizesthat there has been true change
in his brothers, that hereconciles himself to them and
them to himself.
And so I think in, I haveforgotten all my trouble and all
(22:31):
of my father's household.
To me, that speaks of I haveforgotten the things that I
choose to forget the things thatthey did to me.
Because look at what the Lordhas given me, look at what he
has done for me.
But I think out of all of it,what is so powerful is Ephraim's
name.
(22:52):
The Lord has made me fruitful inthe land of my affliction.
And friends, that is what I wantto encourage you with today.
Like Leah, like Joseph, when youare going through such tough
times, or there are things thatyour heart so desperately
desires, and you are crying outto the Lord for those things,
(23:16):
and you are beseeching him forwhatever those things are, that
at some point all of us would beable to take a step back and
say, you know what, Lord Jesus,I am going to praise you here,
and I am going to thank you forthe fruit that you are bringing
(23:36):
forth in my life through theaffliction that you have
appointed me to.
And even if nobody can see thatfruit, even if the fruit is just
visible in my own heart, whereHoly Spirit, I know you've come
and you've filled me and you arechanging me and you are leading
me into all truth.
(23:56):
And I can I can see the desirefor your fruit, Holy Spirit, to
be the fruit of my life, Lord,then I'm going to bless you for
the fruit that you bring forthin my affliction.
I'm not going to be like thesoil that Jesus talks about,
(24:16):
where once the seed is planted,when trials and tribulations and
afflictions come, that that thatfruit withers away right away
because it has no root.
No, Lord Jesus, I want to seethe fruit of my affliction
because those roots went deep.
Because when when, like wetalked about last week, when the
waves and the when the waves andthe storm pound against my
(24:39):
house, Lord Jesus, that I don'ttopple because I am built on
you.
You are my foundation, you aremy strong tower.
I can run into you and be safe.
You are my redeemer, my rock, mysalvation, my shield.
You are the one, Lord, whobrings forth fruit in my
(25:03):
affliction.
And this time I will praise youfor it.
And I want to encourage you withthis, my friends.
It is, I and I can tell you frommy own experience being tossed
in the tempest of spiritualwarfare, of being tempted to
(25:25):
doubt the Lord, of being temptedto accuse him of unfaithfulness,
of being tempted to just throwmy hands up in desperation and
in difficulty and in frustrationin all of it, in warring to stay
faithful to Jesus and to trusthim.
(25:46):
This is why I talk about and whyI talked about at the beginning
of this episode, when we readscripture, it can't just be what
is Jesus saying to me, but thisis the very character of God
revealed to us.
This is why we can haveconfidence.
This is why we know we can pleadwith him and we can bring every
(26:08):
petition that we have to him,because he sees and he hears our
affliction like he did withLeah, because he redeems us, he
helps us to forget our troubles,and he shows us the fruit that
he bears in us in ouraffliction, like he did with
Joseph.
In the land of my affliction,the Lord brought forth fruit.
(26:32):
And I know I'm getting all firedup about it, but you know why?
Because I'm preaching to myself.
I'm preaching to my heart, mysoul, my spirit that I know is
so prone to wonder, that getsoverwhelmed with my own
feelings, that that fights totell the truth to myself, to
preach the gospel to myself, toremind myself daily of the
(26:56):
character of the God that Iserve, that he is sovereign,
that he is good, that his willis perfect, he is never late, he
shows up right on time.
Everything he does for me is formy benefit and to be conformed
into the image of his son.
He wants me to know him, hewants me to love him, he wants
(27:20):
me to walk with him in deeperways than I have before this
moment.
It is truly all for my good.
We quote Romans 8.28 all thetime, but do we think about what
that really means?
We know that all things, allthings work together for good
(27:43):
for those who love God and arecalled according to his purpose.
Those things cannot worktogether for us if we are
absent, if if if our lives areabsent the love of God.
If we do not love him, then wewill, we will, we will hit a
(28:04):
point where we we hate hispurpose for our life.
Because loving him is not thefoundation of our life.
But when we love him, when wemake the pursuit of him and
knowing him, the whole purposeof our life, we can not only
believe, but we can know andwalk in confidence that whatever
(28:28):
comes to us, no matter howdevastating and grievous and
difficult and heartbreaking andhurtful it is, that Jesus Christ
will use it for our good, thatGod the Father will use it for
our good, just like he did forLeah, just like he did for
(28:48):
Joseph, just like he did forDavid, for Moses, for Deborah,
for Jeremiah, for Isaiah, forPaul, for Peter, for Mary, the
mother of Jesus, every singlething, even in the midst of
devastation, in Jesus himself,all things working together for
(29:11):
good, the ultimate good.
Jesus crucified in an agony,crying out, My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Why?
And yet, knowing he knew hiscrucifixion was necessary and he
knew that God was going to makehim fruitful in the land of his
(29:32):
affliction, and the father did.
The father did.
Isaiah 53 tells us that eventhough he was cut off in his
generation, right, he had nochildren, but still he is
fruitful.
Jesus Christ is fruitful and hemakes his children fruitful.
And so today, my friends, I justwant to say to you no matter
(29:56):
what you are facing, no matterwhat kind of warfare.
Is coming at you, no matter howyou feel that you are drowning
in your own feelings and yourown doubts and your uncertainty
about what the Lord is doing foryou.
I would encourage you to standfast.
And I am I am preaching tomyself to stand fast in the
character of our God.
(30:19):
He sees our affliction, he hearsthe heart's cry.
He works all things together forour good because we love him and
we are called according to hispurpose.
And he will, he will, he will,he will bring forth fruit in the
(30:41):
land of our affliction.
And so as we finish, I want to,I want to bless you with this in
the midst of everything thatwe've talked about.
That again, that this is thecharacter of our God.
This is who he is.
This is what he will do.
And so I want to read 1Thessalonians 5 23 through 24.
(31:07):
Now may the God of peace himselfsanctify you completely and may
your whole spirit, soul, andbody be kept blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
(31:31):
Amen.
Hey everyone, welcome to episode six of Honey
from the Rock.
I'm glad you're here.
I hope wherever this episodefinds you that you are hanging
in there this week.
I know there is a lot going onfor a lot of people because it
is the middle of November andthis is craziness.
And Thanksgiving is only twoweeks and one day away.
(00:32):
And I literally don't understandhow we've got gotten to this
point in the year.
It's just, I know it's been acrazy year in so many different
ways for so many people.
And so I hope, I hope whereveryou're listening to uh this
episode, whatever you've got infront of you that you are, that
(00:54):
you are hanging in there so far.
And if you are like me and youcan't wait for 2025 to just kind
of wrap up and be over, friend,we are so close.
We are so close.
Um, we thank you, Jesus, for theday that you've given us.
And we also look forward to theend of of this year.
(01:15):
Because it's been, it's been adoozy.
I know it's been a doozy for alot of people on a lot of
different levels.
So, and that's actually kind ofwhat I want to talk about today.
I mean, not really, I mean, anot the word doozy, uh, but um,
I mean, I we've talked a lotabout affliction, talked a lot
about suffering, um, talked alot about loving the Lord in
(01:38):
these first few episodes.
And today I actually wanted toread a couple of verses from the
Old Testament and take a look atthem because they are two
sections of scripture that theLord has really used to minister
to me in the last couple ofdays.
And they are things that I amsitting with and wrestling with,
and and and that's usually whereI am when I'm coming to record
(02:01):
an episode.
I am not coming to an episodehaving all of the answers.
I mean, God forbid, it's likePaul says in Philippians 3, not
that I have attained.
Heck no.
Uh, so usually when I'm comingto record episodes, yes, they're
there are things that I'velearned, things that I've walked
through, things that I've grownin with Jesus, but they're also
(02:22):
sometimes things that I'm stillcurrently working through or
wrestling through.
And sometimes just talking themout helps bring clarity.
So today I is is more of theformer rather than the latter.
I've read these verses before.
They've ministered to me before,but they they just hit me in a
(02:44):
different way today.
And I wanted to take some timeand encourage you.
Uh, encourage and encouragemyself in the Lord, encourage
one another in that whateverstate we find ourselves in
before Jesus, whatever we'regoing through, that he is always
(03:05):
working a deeper purpose that wecan't see.
And I was reminded of that againtoday, uh, in the midst of
crying out to the Lord andwrestling with him on some
things, and and really, reallyjust pouring my heart out to him
in where I was struggling withthings that have happened this
year, and and pouring out my ownmy own lack of understanding, my
(03:29):
own inability right now in acouple of areas in my life to
see his will clearly, where heis really requiring me to wait
on him.
I was drawn again to theseverses out of Genesis uh to see
that the Lord in hisfaithfulness, he sees us, he
hears us, he requires us towait, and in his appointed time,
(03:54):
he brings forth fruit from ouraffliction.
And so I'm going to read thesetwo sets of verses uh today, and
I pray just as I talk about themand share some of the insights
that the Lord gave me, that thatthese that these lessons and
these things that that are we'remining from the word of the Lord
(04:18):
that they that they teach us andthey bless us.
But even more than that, again,like I said a few episodes ago,
when we get in the word, thatwe're not going just to be, you
know, well, what is Jesus sayingto me?
What is the word saying to me?
But first and foremost, thatwhen I read the word and when
I'm getting into scripture, thatI am seeking the Lord to reveal
(04:40):
his character to me, that Iwould get deeper revelation of
who he is, first and foremost.
Not my ideas about who I thinkhe should be or what he should
do in my life or anything likethat.
But first and foremost, this isthe word of God.
It is breathed out by the HolySpirit, it is the truth to us,
(05:00):
it is it is the Lagos word ofGod, and and we need to read it
first and foremost, asking himto reveal himself to us because
that's what his word does.
And it's on him, it's on Jesus,it's on the revelation of the
Lord that everything else isbuilt.
And so as I read Genesis 29, andthen as I read a couple of
(05:24):
verses from Genesis 41, I praythat as we as we sit with these
scriptures, that we would askthe Lord to reveal parts of his
character that we either havenot really dug deeply into or
things that we think we knowabout him that he wants to turn
on its head and reveal himselfto us in a deeper way.
(05:49):
And so I'm actually going totalk about two members of
Jacob's family who probably, Imean, scripture doesn't talk a
lot about these two particularpeople together, but you have to
wonder at some point (06:01):
was there enmity, was there strife?
We don't know.
Um, but they are two people whohad huge impact on Jacob and had
a huge impact on the future ofIsrael, and ultimately had huge
impact when it comes to beingthe line, the the giving birth
(06:24):
to the to the man Judah, uh whowould eventually become the
tribe of Judah, which is thetribe that that Jesus, that
scripture tells us that Jesuswas from the line of the tribe
of Judah.
So Genesis 29, 31 through 35,and this is in the NASB, is
about Leah.
So consider these words.
(06:44):
Now the Lord saw that Leah wasunloved, and he opened her womb,
but Rachel was unable to havechildren.
Leah conceived and gave birth toa son, and named him Reuben, for
she said, Because the Lord hasseen my affliction, now my
husband will love me.
(07:06):
Then she conceived again andgave birth to a son, and said,
Because the Lord has heard thatI am unloved, therefore he has
given me this son also.
So she named him Simeon, and sheconceived again and gave birth
to a son, and said, Now thistime my husband will become
attached to me, because I haveborne him three sons.
(07:30):
Therefore his name was Levi.
And she conceived again and gavebirth to a son, and said, This
time I will praise the Lord.
Therefore she named him Judah.
Then she stopped havingchildren.
So there's that beautifulsection about Leah.
(07:51):
And then the second section ofscripture I want to read is out
of Genesis 41.
And this is right after Josephhas come to power in Egypt,
right?
Being set as the second, as thesecond most powerful man in
Egypt.
He is Pharaoh's right-hand man.
He he marries an Egyptian woman.
I believe she is the daughter ofa um prophet or she's a
(08:15):
prophetess of a god in Egypt.
Um, and she and and he he hastwo children with this woman.
And here's what Joseph names hischildren.
He doesn't give them Egyptiannames, he gives them Hebrew
names.
And he says, um, so this isGenesis 41.
Now, before the year of faminecame, two sons were born to
(08:39):
Joseph, whom Asinaeth, thedaughter of Potiphirah, priest
of An, bore to him.
Okay, those I cannot read thosenames, but also, yes, she was uh
she was the daughter of apriest.
Joseph named the firstbornManasseh, for he said, God has
(09:00):
made me forget all my troubleand all of my father's
household, and he named thesecond Ephraim, for he said, God
has made me fruitful in the landof my affliction.
And that's the question I wantto ask you today.
In the land of the afflictionthat you have walked through,
(09:21):
can you see where the Lord hasborne fruit out of it?
And I know many, many, manytimes when we are walking
through things that aredifficult, when we find
ourselves in the midst of thedepths of grief, when we find
ourselves absolutelybrokenhearted by betrayal or
(09:44):
filled with shame because ofsomething we've done, and and we
know that the Lord is eitherdealing with us or he's
requiring of us or he's silentand we can't find him.
Do we trust that Jesus Christ isgoing to bear fruit in the land
of our affliction?
And so between these two peoplein scripture, and I and this is
(10:06):
just a little bit of an aside,but I feel like it's important
to say, I never want to callthem characters because
characters imply that they mightbe made up somehow.
And these are people, these arereal people who lived in
history, who lived lives thatthat Yahweh absolutely impacted
and changed and used for hisglory and to bring about his
(10:32):
will.
And so we have Leah.
We have Leah who was soscripture tells us here that she
was unloved.
And actually, in the originalHebrew, when you go to look that
up, it means she was hated.
Leah knew that she was hated byher husband.
That had to be a devastatingthing to live through.
And in it, she was she wasdesperate for the love of her
(10:55):
husband.
She was desperate to be caredfor by him.
And she knew what I love aboutthis section of scripture is she
knew the Lord saw heraffliction.
She knew the Lord heard hercries in her loveless marriage,
(11:18):
and that the Lord opened herwomb and gave her sons as an
opportunity for Jacob to turn toher.
And we see, we can read Leah'sdesperation in her affliction,
in the thing that her heartdesired the most, which was the
love of her husband.
Maybe this time he will love me,maybe this time he will attach
(11:42):
himself to me.
I've borne him three sons.
Maybe, maybe he will love menow.
And you can sense the yearningand the desire in Leah to be
loved by her husband and to havesome sort of esteem from him.
And and and then along comesJudah.
(12:04):
And what does Leah say?
She doesn't say anything abouther husband when Judah is born.
What she says is, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And I just think that is one ofthe most beautiful pieces of
scripture because really you canread in it.
(12:25):
I have wanted the attachment ofmy husband.
I have desired and yearned forhis love.
And I know that these sons are agift to me from God because
Yahweh has seen my affliction.
And yet after three sons, Istill have nothing.
(12:49):
And so when she has Judah, whenshe has her fourth son, she
says, This time, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And to me, reading that, thereis there is a contentedness in
Leah saying, you know what, Ihave not gotten the affection of
my husband, but I have I havethe love of the Lord.
(13:14):
I have the gifts that he hasgiven me in my children.
And this time I'm not going toseek anything from my husband
with this child.
I am simply going to praise theLord.
I'm simply going to worship theLord.
And there is something, there issomething so beautiful about
(13:37):
that.
And I've read this scripture amultitude of times.
But today, reading it again, Iso identified with the yearning
in Leah.
You know, she wanted somethingso deeply.
And and the Lord so cared forthis woman who had been part of,
(13:59):
I don't know, I can't remember,and so forgive my ignorance
right now, but I'm pretty surethat Laban decided to um swap
Leah and Rachel.
I don't, I can't remember if Idon't think Leah had a part in
it.
Uh, but she knows instantly thenext morning after she's married
(14:19):
Jacob that that he despises her.
And and that he he's justabsolutely besotted with Rachel,
and that nobody will evermeasure up to her in his eyes.
And and he so much so that hedecides to work seven more
years, seven more years forRachel.
(14:40):
And he and and Jacob is so clearabout his preference for her.
And and Leah finds herself in ain a devastating situation where
she is married to a man whohates her.
But the Lord does not hate her.
He sees this woman and he seesher affliction, he sees the
(15:03):
desire her desire, her yearningfor connection with her husband
and affection from him, andopens her womb.
I it's just it's amazing to me.
And and and I think it is justone beautiful example of how the
Lord moves for us.
It looks different in differentways, obviously, but he is not
(15:30):
immune to the heartbreak of hischildren.
I mean, you can see how thiscould tie into when the Lord
calls Moses and he says, I haveheard the cries of my children,
Israel.
He and my heart breaks for that.
He is not immune to thesuffering of his children.
(15:52):
He never has been, and he neverwill be.
And he works what is best forus.
He does things for us out of thedelight of a father's heart
towards us, things that willbring us to a place where we can
know him more deeply.
But what I love about this isthat in the midst of there was
(16:15):
there was blessing andaffliction in Leah's life.
The blessing was herfruitfulness.
She had four sons, and theaffliction was her husband hated
her.
And and through it all, shefinally comes to the place where
it seems like she has justsurrendered her relationship
(16:35):
with Jacob to the Lord becauseby the time Judah is born, she
says, This time, this time Iwill praise the Lord.
And then she stopped havingchildren.
With this last child, I'm goingto give thanks to the Lord for
all he has done.
And I'm just gonna trust him.
(16:57):
And it's so important in themidst of our affliction, in the
midst of our suffering, in themidst of grief, and again, in
the midst of blessing, in themidst of blessing, to be able to
say with whatever we aredesiring, where we have asked
the Lord and we have beseechedhim, and we are crying out to
him for answers or forunderstanding or for wisdom,
(17:17):
that we hit a point that we cansay with Leah, no matter what
has happened in this Lord, I'mgoing to praise you.
I am going to praise you in themidst of my affliction.
Lord, I'm going to praise youeven if I don't get what I've
asked you for.
And I'm not going to ignore theother blessings in my life that
(17:40):
you have chosen to give me.
I am willing to let this thingthat I've held on to so tightly,
whatever it is for each one ofus, whether it's a relationship
or it's a friendship or it's ajob or it's a dream or it's a
calling that we thought would goa different way or whatever it
(18:03):
is, to hit a point in it whereit says, you know what, Lord, I
say to you, I don't know whatyou're doing, Lord, but this
time, in this moment, I'm goingto praise you.
And I am going to thank you forthe blessings that you've
already given me.
And I'm not going to do it insome resigned, like sad potato,
(18:25):
like this time I'm going topraise the Lord.
No, Lord, you have done so muchfor me.
And in this moment, this time,this time, I'm not going to hope
that that whatever happens isgoing to bring about the thing
that I want.
No, Lord, I am going to praiseyou.
I am going to praise you.
(18:45):
And so with Leah's example, andthen looking at Joseph, looking
at Joseph, who was sold intoslavery by his brothers, was in
prison, was forgotten by umPharaoh's uh cupbearer, I
believe, when he had the dream,you know, spent 14 years in
prison, was wrongly accused,falsely accused by Potiphar's
(19:09):
wife of rape and of insultingher.
All of these things that Josephwent through.
He's that he suffered at thehands of other people.
And yet he was so faithful tothe Lord.
And he he, I mean, the motto ofthat man's life, how can I do
this thing and sin against God?
And so we see Pharaoh bestowingon Joseph the highest honor that
(19:34):
he could give someone withoutgiving them the whole land of
Egypt and making them Pharaoh.
Because Joseph wisely advisedhim on his dreams with the fat
cows and the sickly cows and theplentiful ears of corn and the
wilted ears of corn.
(19:55):
And here Joseph is, he's he ishe is a foreigner, he is not
Egyptian, and he has married anEgyptian woman.
They've given him an Egyptianname.
And and and Vodhi Bakum has suchan amazing message about this
called You Gotta Let That StuffGo.
It's so good.
Um, but he points out all ofthese foreign entities in
(20:18):
Joseph's in Joseph's names, buthe and and and the things that
he's given and the position thathe's given.
And yet when his children areborn, the names that he give, he
gives them point back to the Godthat he has always served, the
one true God.
(20:40):
And again, those names areManasseh, for God has made me
forget all my trouble and all ofmy father's household, which is
so interesting.
And then Ephraim, for God hasmade me fruitful in the land of
my affliction.
I can't imagine how many timesJoseph laid in that prison cell
(21:04):
after Potiphar's wife uh falselyaccused him, and he just
wondered, How did I get here?
Why am I here?
Lord, what are you doing?
Have I done something to makeyou angry?
And I and again, I don't want toadd to or take away scripture,
but just knowing my own humanfrailty and my own propensity,
(21:24):
like having not experiencedsomething like what Joseph
walked through, just to be like,Lord, why are you doing this?
What have I missed you in someway?
Have I sinned against you insome way?
All the questions I tend to askmyself and ask the Lord when I'm
going through somethingdifficult.
But when when Joseph getsmarried and he has these two
(21:46):
sons, the Lord restoressomething in Joseph, and you can
see it in the names of hischildren.
And I love Manasseh's name.
God has made me forget all mytrouble.
And so interesting, and all myfather's household, which we see
just a couple of chapters laterwhen his brothers show up, he's
wary of them and he tests themto see if they are still the
(22:09):
same brothers who threw him intoa pit and sold him to a slaver
as they were when he was young.
But we see that when he realizesthat there has been true change
in his brothers, that hereconciles himself to them and
them to himself.
And so I think in, I haveforgotten all my trouble and all
(22:31):
of my father's household.
To me, that speaks of I haveforgotten the things that I
choose to forget the things thatthey did to me.
Because look at what the Lordhas given me, look at what he
has done for me.
But I think out of all of it,what is so powerful is Ephraim's
name.
(22:52):
The Lord has made me fruitful inthe land of my affliction.
And friends, that is what I wantto encourage you with today.
Like Leah, like Joseph, when youare going through such tough
times, or there are things thatyour heart so desperately
desires, and you are crying outto the Lord for those things,
(23:16):
and you are beseeching him forwhatever those things are, that
at some point all of us would beable to take a step back and
say, you know what, Lord Jesus,I am going to praise you here,
and I am going to thank you forthe fruit that you are bringing
(23:36):
forth in my life through theaffliction that you have
appointed me to.
And even if nobody can see thatfruit, even if the fruit is just
visible in my own heart, whereHoly Spirit, I know you've come
and you've filled me and you arechanging me and you are leading
me into all truth.
(23:56):
And I can I can see the desirefor your fruit, Holy Spirit, to
be the fruit of my life, Lord,then I'm going to bless you for
the fruit that you bring forthin my affliction.
I'm not going to be like thesoil that Jesus talks about,
(24:16):
where once the seed is planted,when trials and tribulations and
afflictions come, that that thatfruit withers away right away
because it has no root.
No, Lord Jesus, I want to seethe fruit of my affliction
because those roots went deep.
Because when when, like wetalked about last week, when the
waves and the when the waves andthe storm pound against my
(24:39):
house, Lord Jesus, that I don'ttopple because I am built on
you.
You are my foundation, you aremy strong tower.
I can run into you and be safe.
You are my redeemer, my rock, mysalvation, my shield.
You are the one, Lord, whobrings forth fruit in my
(25:03):
affliction.
And this time I will praise youfor it.
And I want to encourage you withthis, my friends.
It is, I and I can tell you frommy own experience being tossed
in the tempest of spiritualwarfare, of being tempted to
(25:25):
doubt the Lord, of being temptedto accuse him of unfaithfulness,
of being tempted to just throwmy hands up in desperation and
in difficulty and in frustrationin all of it, in warring to stay
faithful to Jesus and to trusthim.
(25:46):
This is why I talk about and whyI talked about at the beginning
of this episode, when we readscripture, it can't just be what
is Jesus saying to me, but thisis the very character of God
revealed to us.
This is why we can haveconfidence.
This is why we know we can pleadwith him and we can bring every
(26:08):
petition that we have to him,because he sees and he hears our
affliction like he did withLeah, because he redeems us, he
helps us to forget our troubles,and he shows us the fruit that
he bears in us in ouraffliction, like he did with
Joseph.
In the land of my affliction,the Lord brought forth fruit.
(26:32):
And I know I'm getting all firedup about it, but you know why?
Because I'm preaching to myself.
I'm preaching to my heart, mysoul, my spirit that I know is
so prone to wonder, that getsoverwhelmed with my own
feelings, that that fights totell the truth to myself, to
preach the gospel to myself, toremind myself daily of the
(26:56):
character of the God that Iserve, that he is sovereign,
that he is good, that his willis perfect, he is never late, he
shows up right on time.
Everything he does for me is formy benefit and to be conformed
into the image of his son.
He wants me to know him, hewants me to love him, he wants
(27:20):
me to walk with him in deeperways than I have before this
moment.
It is truly all for my good.
We quote Romans 8.28 all thetime, but do we think about what
that really means?
We know that all things, allthings work together for good
(27:43):
for those who love God and arecalled according to his purpose.
Those things cannot worktogether for us if we are
absent, if if if our lives areabsent the love of God.
If we do not love him, then wewill, we will, we will hit a
(28:04):
point where we we hate hispurpose for our life.
Because loving him is not thefoundation of our life.
But when we love him, when wemake the pursuit of him and
knowing him, the whole purposeof our life, we can not only
believe, but we can know andwalk in confidence that whatever
(28:28):
comes to us, no matter howdevastating and grievous and
difficult and heartbreaking andhurtful it is, that Jesus Christ
will use it for our good, thatGod the Father will use it for
our good, just like he did forLeah, just like he did for
(28:48):
Joseph, just like he did forDavid, for Moses, for Deborah,
for Jeremiah, for Isaiah, forPaul, for Peter, for Mary, the
mother of Jesus, every singlething, even in the midst of
devastation, in Jesus himself,all things working together for
(29:11):
good, the ultimate good.
Jesus crucified in an agony,crying out, My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Why?
And yet, knowing he knew hiscrucifixion was necessary and he
knew that God was going to makehim fruitful in the land of his
(29:32):
affliction, and the father did.
The father did.
Isaiah 53 tells us that eventhough he was cut off in his
generation, right, he had nochildren, but still he is
fruitful.
Jesus Christ is fruitful and hemakes his children fruitful.
And so today, my friends, I justwant to say to you no matter
(29:56):
what you are facing, no matterwhat kind of warfare.
Is coming at you, no matter howyou feel that you are drowning
in your own feelings and yourown doubts and your uncertainty
about what the Lord is doing foryou.
I would encourage you to standfast.
And I am I am preaching tomyself to stand fast in the
character of our God.
(30:19):
He sees our affliction, he hearsthe heart's cry.
He works all things together forour good because we love him and
we are called according to hispurpose.
And he will, he will, he will,he will bring forth fruit in the
(30:41):
land of our affliction.
And so as we finish, I want to,I want to bless you with this in
the midst of everything thatwe've talked about.
That again, that this is thecharacter of our God.
This is who he is.
This is what he will do.
And so I want to read 1Thessalonians 5 23 through 24.
(31:07):
Now may the God of peace himselfsanctify you completely and may
your whole spirit, soul, andbody be kept blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
(31:31):
Amen.
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