Blessed in the Famine

Genesis 26 starts the chapter with : And there was a famine in the land...

Isaac, God's man of the time, was faced with many challenges. The beginning of the text suggests that on top of life's ordinary challenges, there was also major distress in the form of famine that everyone was feeling at the same time. By today's standards, since we're an industrial nation, we call such a famine an economic downturn . Defining famine in economic terms doesn't belittle its actually meaning, but rather expands it to further represent a major reduction in resources, required for survival in an urban setting. For there to be famine, there must be a total collapse in the ability for one to gather until ones self, the necessary materials to provide proper substance. If there isn't any grain, then there isn't anything to feed the livestock or for making bread. Likewise, in an urban setting, the lack of funds also means no meat nor bread. Famine, though, can not stand alone and is never sudden.


Hard times don't begin with famine. Aside from the presence of disease and/or pestilence, famine is caused first and foremost by drought. You have to pass through drought to reach famine. Drought is the first clue that things weren't going well and may get worse. For Isaac, it was the constant battle for watering holes, and watching ponds and rivers becoming dry and cracked. It was also the necessity to move from place to place to find unhindered prosperity. Yet, Isaac remained prepared to be blessed. Isaac maintained seed ready for planting. For us, the drought appears as depleted funds, the necessity to visit a food bank, challenges in maintaining employment or to stay in school. Our seed, when all else is gone, is our faith, which must maintain an unshakable level of confidence in God. I speak from experience. When my wife and I were faced with the tragedy of our child's near drowning, I made a decision concerning my reaction. I remember being at a crossroads. One choice was to flip-out and lose my mind on any and everyone around me; to become irrational and question God as to why. The other choice was to settle myself, find peace within the storm, and call God good and blessed, no matter the out come. I chose the latter. 3 months later with a child in need of physical rehab and lottery size bills staring at me, God is still good and blessed beyond anything that my mind can conceive. We're still standing. Maintain your seed.


And there was a famine in the land... Even when things looked bad for Isaac, he was prepared to be blessed. He passed through bad and into worse, but still kept his seed and desire to serve the Lord. Then, at a time when no farmer would dare sacrifice seed to unyielding ground, God told Isaac to plant. The bible only states what God told Isaac to do and the aftermath. It neglects to inform of the middle passage. Imagine that Isaac looks at the cracked ground and the swirling dust after God says to plant. Imagine what he'd be told by others around him, some even becoming angry and proclaiming recklessness. Yet, God said to plant. Therefore, Isaac had to prepare the hard and cracked ground to receive his carefully guarded seed. There was little water for his oxen that pulled the holes. There was even less water to sustain the land for crops. Yet, God said to plant.

Regardless of what anyone thought or may have said, Isaac knew something that Christ would later present as the doctrine of Bind and Loose. What ever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven. What ever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. Isaac constantly loosed blessings in the form of praise and acknowledgment onto the Lord, and in turn God called Isaac blessed. To prove it to him, God told Isaac to plant and Isaac reaped 100 fold in that same year.

Would you dare to step out on an idea that you've held on to? Right now is famine. Even after a drought is declared over, the conditions for famine take time to reverse. Now is the time to plant. Trust that even as you work with very little, soon it will out grow your humble beginning and become larger than even you imagined.

Cheers, and keep on running.