
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
In a world filled with a lot of talk, we want to have meaningful, biblical conversations with those God has entrusted to us. Join Tosha Williams and the Family Disciple Me ministry for Devotion Driven Discipleship conversation starters that will encourage you to "Seek Him Speak Him" in your own life.
Family Disciple Me is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Christian ministry dedicated to catalyzing Devotion Driven Discipleship in our own lives and homes as well as around the world.
For more information, visit familydiscipleme.org
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
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.
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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
We live in a world that's downsizing. Fewer people are getting married, families are becoming smaller, birth rates are plummeting around the world. We hear a lot of talk about self-care and sustainability, but we hear very little about fruitfulness. It's as if humanity has started to believe that multiplication is a liability instead of a blessing. And yet, from the very beginning, God has always made it clear that for his people, he wants 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 his family came out of the ark, well, he told them the same thing. Well, today we're going to talk about how that continued even in the land of Goshen for God's people, because his heart is fruitfulness, its growth, and shall we say its population growth. Hi, my name is Tasha Williams, and in this Days of Distinction conversation, we're continuing talking about what God did in his people's lives in the land of Goshen. So welcome. I'm so glad that you're here with me in this episode as we journey through this collection of conversations that focuses on how God's gotcha in Goshen. In the last couple episodes, we focused on his provision and his protection. And in this conversation, we're going to focus on population growth. Now, when we talk about the people of Israel being in the land of Goshen, it's helpful to remember that they were there for a long, long time. But actually, God had already told their great great great great great great granddaddy Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 that they would live as strangers in another nation for 400 years. So even though they were there in Goshen for a long, long time, that meant that it wasn't a random time. It was part of God's plan for them. So what did the Israelites do while they waited in Goshen for those 400 years? Well, they could have sat around and complained. They could have twiddled their thumbs for four centuries. They could have done a lot of things. But listen to what Scripture says they did. Genesis tells us now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased in number. That's Genesis 47, verse 27. You say, what's the big deal about that? Why are we focusing on that here? Well, here's the thing: even in a foreign land, even in the waiting, even in the goshen of their existence, God's people grew because growth is part of what God wants his people to do. Instead of just waiting, instead of just existing, instead of just twiddling their thumbs or complaining, scripture tells us that they settled, they acquired property, and they started families so that they could multiply. With that, the land of Goshen became more than just a holding place, it became a growing place. And thing is, for God's people, that pattern of growth continues long after Egypt. We see that pattern continue in the book of Acts as those early believers who were first called Christians, they began to multiply so that the 12 became 120, and the 120 became 3,000, and the 3,000 began going out across the whole world. The word of God grew and was multiplied in people's lives. Acts chapter 12, verse 24 says, but the word of God continued to spread and flourish. And then in Acts 19, 20, it says, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Thing is, wherever God's presence dwells, growth follows. The people grow, the families grow, the word of God grows, the kingdom of God grows, the churches grow. It's an explosion of growth where God is working in his people as they keep their eyes focused on him in the goshens of their life. Which brings me back to you. What does your Goshen look like right now? Are you in a season of waiting? Maybe you feel like you're stuck right now. Maybe your life isn't exactly the way you want it to be, but you're waiting on God. And as you wait on God, you're wondering what comes next. I don't know about you, but it's easy to treat waiting like wasted time. But here's the thing: God never wastes anything. He doesn't even waste the waiting. You see, in the Goshen, way back in the land of Egypt with ancient Israel, well, in their Goshen, he wasn't wasting that time. He was fulfilling his promises. And friend, here's the truth for you and for me. In our Goshans, he's doing the exact same thing. There in the land of Goshen for those centuries of waiting. Scripture tells us that the ancient Israelites were being productive, they were being fruitful, they were growing. And friend, that growth wasn't just physical, it was spiritual. It was spiritual sinking deeply into their hearts. They were learning to live wisely under God's blessing. So that's the opportunity that we 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 what ways are you growing? Because you'll know that He is working in you and through you and that you're allowing Him to work in you and through you if you see that growth happening in you, no matter what the waiting season is looking like. Are you being wise with what He's given you now? Are you cultivating what He's already planted in you? I love what Scripture says. In 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 18, it says, Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 15, it says, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head. That is Christ. He is our leader. He is the one who is helping us grow. He's the one who's calling us into growth that we can follow him with more maturity, with more completeness, with more wholeness. So even in the waiting, we can be growing. We can be growing in grace, in truth, in love, in maturity. You see, these waiting seasons can be fruitful seasons if we let God work in us and then through us. That's what happened in ancient Israel right there in the land of Goshen. So here we are today. Our world is shrinking, not just in population, but in vision. People are afraid of commitment. They're afraid of responsibility. They're afraid of raising up the next generation. So many young adults are choosing not to have children. But the thing is, that's the opposite of what God wants, because He wants us to have vision. He wants us to have commitment and responsibility. And thing is, his kingdom isn't shrinking, it's growing. He is calling us to be fruitful and multiply, to grow families, to grow faith, to grow discipleship. So here we are with Family Disciple Me, whatever brings you into this podcast. You may be a mom, you may be a dad, you may be a young adult or grandparent. However, you come into this podcast, you may have children, you may not have children of your own. But thing is, every single one of us can partner with God in this population growth. It looks like devotion-driven discipleship in the spiritual realm. Every single one of us can invest in someone else. Every single one of us can invest in someone younger than us, or maybe a few steps behind us. We can share the gospel, we can disciple a friend, we can teach a child, we can pray with a student. You see, kingdom growth happens whether our lives are stuck in Goshen or not. I will say, this year it has felt like my life has been stuck in Goshen. But the question is, am I going to use that time for kingdom growth? Because when you and when I lean into kingdom growth, other lives are touched. Faith is multiplied and Jesus is made more famous. So while we wait in our Goshans, I challenge you to consider, are you making Jesus more famous? Are you inviting people to join you in the Father's family? Are you using this season to grow yourself and others in the kingdom? Because here's the thing: God's goal isn't just for you to grow and for me to grow, even though he wants us to grow. His ultimate goal is for his family to grow. That's what happened in Egypt. The Israelites went from less than a hundred people to thousands upon thousands and even millions. And that's what God invites us into in our generation. It may look like physical children. And for those of us that God has given physical children and grandchildren and adopted children and biological children, however, God has given us people, praise God for the families He's given us. But He also wants us to multiply faith and have spiritual children so that even when this earth, the cultures of this world are downsizing, heaven is still 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 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 a nation in Goshen way back then is still growing his kingdom today. So, friend, let's not despise the waiting places. Let's not despise the Goshans of our lives because God's gotcha in Goshen. He's working even here, even now, in this place. He's still growing his people. One heart, one family, one home, one conversation at a time. So, friend, go with God. As we always say with Family Disciple me, seek him and then turn around and speak him. And here's the thing as you meet with God and make him known, watch him multiply his kingdom through you. Be encouraged. I'll see you in the next episode.