Genesis 45:51 (CB)

Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

Do you feel marked by sorrow? Are you the target of the arrows of affliction? The arrows of affliction are sent by covenant love to prepare you for a special work that will yield a great blessing from your Heavenly Father. The day will come when you will be grateful for every blow, even from family & friends. Joseph’s brothers hated him (Ge  37:4) & sold him into slavery. “The archers hated & shot at him (Ge 49:23). Yet, “his bow remained in strength, & the arms  of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob”(Ge 49:24). The abundance of God’s revelation is usually accompanied by a thorn in the flesh (2Cor 12:7). Grief notwithstanding there will be born to you, as there was to Joseph, a Manasseh, for God will make you fruitful in the land of your affliction (Ge 41:51-52). Instructed by affliction, you will become a comforter to the afflicted.   

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon