A Fruitful Vine

Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.
Genesis 49:22 NIV

This was the prayer of Jacob, Joseph’s father over him.

Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob. Rachel’s answered prayer. Favored above his brothers by his father, and hated by his brothers. Driven by envy, hate, and malice his brothers sold him as a slave in Egypt. He ends up in the house of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.

Even as a slave we are told…The Lord was with Joseph, and he [even though a slave] became a successful and prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Genesis 39:2 AMP

I can’t imagine the pain of being taken away from my family; sold in a foreign country as a slave. Most people would be bitter for lesser ( I have felt a little sore for lesser things). But not Joseph, he becomes fruitful even in slavery.

When you think, “Finally, he can now begin to pick up the pieces of his life.” Potiphar’s wife lies on him and he gets thrown into prison.

While in prison we are told about Joseph, and the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in prison whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of prison paid no attention to anything that was in Josephs charge because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. Genesis 39:20-23

Even behind bars ….Joseph is still fruitful.

Eventually, he becomes second in command in Egypt, and it’s in this season that Joseph could say, the name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Genesis 41:52 ESV

God had restored to him everything that he had lost. But there is something unique in Joseph’s life. He became fruitful no matter where he found himself. Walls of envy and malice couldn’t stop his life. Walls of slavery couldn’t stop him. Prison walls couldn’t hinder his fruitfulness.

Nothing that the enemy threw at Him could stop him from prospering. If you keep leaping over those walls you will find yourself in a season of restoration too.

Walls can be symbolic of protection and safety which is a good thing. But, they can also symbolize hindrances. In Joseph’s case, walls were a hindrance sent by the enemy to stop him from going where he was meant to go.

I don’t know what situation you find yourself in. Maybe, you find yourself enclosed by literal walls. Lockdown has left you feeling like you can’t prosper. Your walls could be another person’s bad decisions and you have felt hemmed in. You feel like you will never become all that you need to be in God because of this person.

You could be walled in by the careless hurtful actions of others. As a result, you find yourself caged in by unforgiveness and bitterness. It could be you keep coming up against a wall every time you try to go after your dreams. The stumbling blocks feel like they are setting you back for years.

I have struggled with symbolic walls in my life. There was a season that was so hard I started believing life will always be full of setbacks and hindrances. I had believed that my situation needed to change for me to be fruitful.

One day I saw this verse and it felt like God breathed on me. He said to me, “Walls can’t stop you unless you let them! The enemy puts walls to hinder you, but I have allowed it because I knew you would go over them.” I could be fruitful right there in that difficult situation.

Sis, can you feel His whisper?

The psalmist said, “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall.” Psalm 18:29 ESV

God wasn’t leaving me behind those walls. He was giving me the strength to leap over them and become fruitful.

Sis, I wish I could tell you in detail the walls I have had to scale for the last six years. They have felt scary and formidable. There were days I wished God could give me an easier life. Yet, He gave me the strength to become a fruitful vine that leaped over the walls.

Joseph’s fruitfulness didn’t come from himself; his fruitfulness came from the Lord. Every time we are told …and the Lord was with him…

He doesn’t leave us in trouble. He becomes our strength to endure in trouble.

His father says that Joseph is a fruitful vine by the spring…Reminds me of psalm 1:3… He is like a tree planted by the streams of water that yields its fruit in season. It’s not the strength of the tree or its ability to produce. It’s where it’s planted-by the river- which makes it yield its fruit in season. So if this tree was planted away from the river, it may not be as fruitful.

Remember our ability to bear fruit is dependent on what we are connected to…. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear much fruit. John 15:5

He is our river. He is the spring that makes us fruitful. He is the one that gives us the ability to leap over the walls that threaten to keep us in our situations. We stay connected to the spring when we stay in His word and do what it says.

Nothing could stop Joseph; he was indeed a fruitful vine. No wall could hinder him. Nothing can stop you either. You can become all that you were meant to be in God. If you’ll stay connected to Him, keep your heart soft and receive His strength to keep going over the walls. You will become a fruitful vine.

Prayer

Father, I thank you because it’s your will for me to be fruitful. By your grace, I can be fruitful no matter where I find myself. Nothing can hinder my fruitfulness in you. Help me see the way that you have made for me to leap over the walls that have hindered me in the past. Let them become a way of being strengthened to overcome even greater things. I refuse to walk in self-pity. I refuse to partner with despair. I am an over comer. In Jesus name Amen!

What walls are you leaping over in this season? Share in the comments below and let others be encouraged by your testimony.