Hi how are you today? I had a good week last week. The weather is getting colder in my country but in my town it doesn’t snow so not as cold as some of your towns. How was your week?
In my country and probably around the world there is a cost of living crisis. With the Strait of Hormuz limited in which ships can get through, fuel prices have been a worry for some. Fertiliser also may be in short supply. When these type of headlines are screaming at us, what should our response be as Christians?
We know that Malachi 3: 10- 11 in the Message Bible states:
Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers.” The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
We know that if we tithe all our needs will be met by God. But what if we are having trouble seeing this? Is there a story that provides hope for us? Yes there is.
It is all the way back in Genesis. Genesis 26 starts like this in the Message Bible:
There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
This is like the headline screaming at us- there was a cost of living crisis in the land.
But notice what Isaac did? He went to the land of the Philistines. Then God appeared to him and said in essence don’t go any further, stay here and I will bless you.
Often when hardships come we want to keep trying things until the hardship goes away. We might get a second job, move to a smaller house or even move to a different city. But if God hasn’t told you to go, don’t go. Follow Him!
So what did Isaac do?
In verse 6, it states:
6 So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
Isaac obeyed God. You would think that all would go well but when a famine is in the land, it not only affects your livelihood but affects your family.
In verse 7, it states:
7 The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful”.
I love how God intervened in this scenario. Before the king could take her and marry her, he realised she was Isaac’s wife. God will protect your family in a time of famine if you don’t compromise their wellbeing.
So what happened next?
In verse 12, it states:
12-15 Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy.
What? I thought the land was in severe famine. God’s principals don’t only work in plenty; they also work in famine. God’s Word is not subject to what happens on earth; it is subject to the principles God laid out in His Word.
God told Isaac to stay so he sowed in that land. He did what he had always done. He was a farmer so he farmed. When a famine comes we don’t just sit back and complain or do nothing; we keep sowing and doing what we have always done.
Isaac became richer in a famine. That seems really weird but Gods ways are not our ways. We just need to be obedient and trust Him.
Never stop sowing into your job, your family and the church in a time of famine. God works with what we sow and not what we hoard.
So if you are living in a community where there is a cost of living crisis; you don’t have to be subject to it. Keep obeying God and following His principles of sowing. He won’t let you down.
In Psalm 37:25 in the New King James Version, it states:
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
This is what I want to leave you with today to ponder on.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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