DAYS OF DISTINCTION: How God's Gotcha in Goshen: POPULATION (Growth) | Fruitful in the Waiting

What if your “waiting place” is actually a greenhouse for growth? In this episode, we explore how God transforms seasons that feel stalled into fertile ground for spiritual, family, and community multiplication—starting with Israel’s long stay in Goshen and stretching into the explosive movement of the early church. Instead of treating delay as dead time, we look at how Scripture frames waiting as a season to settle, steward, and sow: settle into faithful rhythms, steward what’s already in your hands, and sow the seeds of discipleship that bear fruit over time.

We walk through the pattern of multiplication found in Genesis and Acts—the call to be fruitful and multiply, the Israelites acquiring property and increasing, the word of God spreading widely and growing in power. Along the way, we address a cultural reality: our world is downsizing vision, commitment, and responsibility. Against that tide, we cast a hopeful vision for kingdom growth that includes both physical and spiritual children. Whether you’re a parent, a single adult, a grandparent, or a young professional, you have a part to play: share the gospel, mentor someone younger, open your home, pray with a student, and bring Scripture into everyday conversations.

If your life feels like Goshen right now, take courage. Growth is not postponed until perfect conditions arrive. It begins where you are—one heart, one family, one home, one conversation at a time. We close with practical prompts to help you grow in grace, truth, love, and maturity, and a challenge to make Jesus more famous through ordinary faithfulness. 

Subscribe at familydiscipleme.org/subscribe for more thoughtful, faith-centered conversations, share this with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review to help others discover this message of fruitful waiting.

______________________

The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
We live in a world that's downsizing.
Fewer people are gettingmarried, families are becoming
smaller, birth rates areplummeting around the world.
We hear a lot of talk aboutself-care and sustainability,
but we hear very little aboutfruitfulness.
It's as if humanity has startedto believe that multiplication

(00:29):
is a liability instead of ablessing.
And yet, from the verybeginning, God has always made
it clear that for his people, hewants us to grow.
Way back in the Garden of Eden,he told Adam and Eve to be
fruitful and multiply.
And then after Noah and hisfamily came out of the ark,

(00:50):
well, he told them the samething.
Well, today we're going to talkabout how that continued even in
the land of Goshen for God'speople, because his heart is
fruitfulness, its growth, andshall we say its population
growth.
Hi, my name is Tasha Williams,and in this Days of Distinction

(01:13):
conversation, we're continuingtalking about what God did in
his people's lives in the landof Goshen.
So welcome.
I'm so glad that you're herewith me in this episode as we
journey through this collectionof conversations that focuses on
how God's gotcha in Goshen.

(01:34):
In the last couple episodes, wefocused on his provision and his
protection.
And in this conversation, we'regoing to focus on population
growth.
Now, when we talk about thepeople of Israel being in the
land of Goshen, it's helpful toremember that they were there
for a long, long time.

(01:56):
But actually, God had alreadytold their great great great
great great great granddaddyAbraham in Genesis chapter 15
that they would live asstrangers in another nation for
400 years.
So even though they were therein Goshen for a long, long time,
that meant that it wasn't arandom time.

(02:17):
It was part of God's plan forthem.
So what did the Israelites dowhile they waited in Goshen for
those 400 years?
Well, they could have sat aroundand complained.
They could have twiddled theirthumbs for four centuries.
They could have done a lot ofthings.
But listen to what Scripturesays they did.

(02:40):
Genesis tells us now theIsraelites settled in Egypt in
the region of Goshen.
They acquired property there andwere fruitful and increased in
number.
That's Genesis 47, verse 27.
You say, what's the big dealabout that?
Why are we focusing on thathere?

Well, here's the thing (03:00):
even in a foreign land, even in the
waiting, even in the goshen oftheir existence, God's people
grew because growth is part ofwhat God wants his people to do.
Instead of just waiting, insteadof just existing, instead of

(03:22):
just twiddling their thumbs orcomplaining, scripture tells us
that they settled, they acquiredproperty, and they started
families so that they couldmultiply.
With that, the land of Goshenbecame more than just a holding
place, it became a growingplace.
And thing is, for God's people,that pattern of growth continues

(03:46):
long after Egypt.
We see that pattern continue inthe book of Acts as those early
believers who were first calledChristians, they began to
multiply so that the 12 became120, and the 120 became 3,000,
and the 3,000 began going outacross the whole world.
The word of God grew and wasmultiplied in people's lives.

(04:11):
Acts chapter 12, verse 24 says,but the word of God continued to
spread and flourish.
And then in Acts 19, 20, itsays, the word of the Lord
spread widely and grew in power.
Thing is, wherever God'spresence dwells, growth follows.

(04:32):
The people grow, the familiesgrow, the word of God grows, the
kingdom of God grows, thechurches grow.
It's an explosion of growthwhere God is working in his
people as they keep their eyesfocused on him in the goshens of
their life.
Which brings me back to you.

(04:52):
What does your Goshen look likeright now?
Are you in a season of waiting?
Maybe you feel like you're stuckright now.
Maybe your life isn't exactlythe way you want it to be, but
you're waiting on God.
And as you wait on God, you'rewondering what comes next.
I don't know about you, but it'seasy to treat waiting like

(05:16):
wasted time.

But here's the thing (05:17):
God never wastes anything.
He doesn't even waste thewaiting.
You see, in the Goshen, way backin the land of Egypt with
ancient Israel, well, in theirGoshen, he wasn't wasting that
time.
He was fulfilling his promises.

(05:37):
And friend, here's the truth foryou and for me.
In our Goshans, he's doing theexact same thing.
There in the land of Goshen forthose centuries of waiting.
Scripture tells us that theancient Israelites were being
productive, they were beingfruitful, they were growing.
And friend, that growth wasn'tjust physical, it was spiritual.

(06:02):
It was spiritual sinking deeplyinto their hearts.
They were learning to livewisely under God's blessing.
So that's the opportunity thatwe have in our lives right now
as well.
So what are you waiting on?
And if you're waiting right now,if you're waiting on God, in

(06:23):
what ways are you growing?
Because you'll know that He isworking in you and through you
and that you're allowing Him towork in you and through you if
you see that growth happening inyou, no matter what the waiting
season is looking like.
Are you being wise with whatHe's given you now?
Are you cultivating what He'salready planted in you?

(06:45):
I love what Scripture says.
In 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 18,it says, Grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and SaviorJesus Christ.
And then in Ephesians chapter 4,verse 15, it says, speaking the
truth in love, we will grow tobecome in every respect the

(07:09):
mature body of Him who is thehead.
That is Christ.
He is our leader.
He is the one who is helping usgrow.
He's the one who's calling usinto growth that we can follow
him with more maturity, withmore completeness, with more
wholeness.
So even in the waiting, we canbe growing.

(07:31):
We can be growing in grace, intruth, in love, in maturity.
You see, these waiting seasonscan be fruitful seasons if we
let God work in us and thenthrough us.
That's what happened in ancientIsrael right there in the land

(07:51):
of Goshen.
So here we are today.
Our world is shrinking, not justin population, but in vision.
People are afraid of commitment.
They're afraid ofresponsibility.
They're afraid of raising up thenext generation.
So many young adults arechoosing not to have children.

(08:12):
But the thing is, that's theopposite of what God wants,
because He wants us to havevision.
He wants us to have commitmentand responsibility.
And thing is, his kingdom isn'tshrinking, it's growing.
He is calling us to be fruitfuland multiply, to grow families,
to grow faith, to growdiscipleship.

(08:35):
So here we are with FamilyDisciple Me, whatever brings you
into this podcast.
You may be a mom, you may be adad, you may be a young adult or
grandparent.
However, you come into thispodcast, you may have children,
you may not have children ofyour own.
But thing is, every single oneof us can partner with God in

(08:56):
this population growth.
It looks like devotion-drivendiscipleship in the spiritual
realm.
Every single one of us caninvest in someone else.
Every single one of us caninvest in someone younger than
us, or maybe a few steps behindus.

(09:17):
We can share the gospel, we candisciple a friend, we can teach
a child, we can pray with astudent.
You see, kingdom growth happenswhether our lives are stuck in
Goshen or not.
I will say, this year it hasfelt like my life has been stuck
in Goshen.

(09:38):
But the question is, am I goingto use that time for kingdom
growth?
Because when you and when I leaninto kingdom growth, other lives
are touched.
Faith is multiplied and Jesus ismade more famous.
So while we wait in our Goshans,I challenge you to consider, are
you making Jesus more famous?

(09:59):
Are you inviting people to joinyou in the Father's family?
Are you using this season togrow yourself and others in the
kingdom?

Because here's the thing (10:10):
God's goal isn't just for you to grow
and for me to grow, even thoughhe wants us to grow.
His ultimate goal is for hisfamily to grow.
That's what happened in Egypt.
The Israelites went from lessthan a hundred people to
thousands upon thousands andeven millions.

(10:31):
And that's what God invites usinto in our generation.
It may look like physicalchildren.
And for those of us that God hasgiven physical children and
grandchildren and adoptedchildren and biological
children, however, God has givenus people, praise God for the
families He's given us.

(10:51):
But He also wants us to multiplyfaith and have spiritual
children so that even when thisearth, the cultures of this
world are downsizing, heaven isstill usizing.
I want to be a part of that.
How about you?
Oh, friend, I challenge you.
Wherever God has planted you,your home, your workplace, your

(11:15):
neighborhood, your church,wherever it is, be fruitful.
Grow in faith.
Share his word.
Invite others into God's family.
Because the God who grew anation in Goshen way back then
is still growing his kingdomtoday.
So, friend, let's not despisethe waiting places.

(11:37):
Let's not despise the Goshans ofour lives because God's gotcha
in Goshen.
He's working even here, evennow, in this place.
He's still growing his people.
One heart, one family, one home,one conversation at a time.

(11:58):
So, friend, go with God.
As we always say with FamilyDisciple me, seek him and then
turn around and speak him.
And here's the thing as you meetwith God and make him known,
watch him multiply his kingdomthrough you.
Be encouraged.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.