March 28: Sowing in Famine

"Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.Then Abimelek said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us."

A famine comes as a result of a drought. A drought is a long period of time with little or no rainfall that can extend for months and years. During a drought, the ground is without moisture. It is not conducive for farming. So the lack of farming or destroyed seeds leads to a shortage of food. Planting your seed during a drought is like throwing away precious resources. No one sows in a drought. But Isaac took a different approach. He  sowed. What a step of faith! He put his seeds in the dry ground, got to work cultivating it. When everyone was hoarding, he scattered, and in the same year he reaped a great harvest and became extremely wealthy.

In the same way, some circumstance in your life may look so hopeless making you come to a point where you feel it is absolutely a waste of time and resources to keep pouring out into it. You feel you should begin withholding your love from that spouse, your energy from that business or work, your commitment from that relationship, your prayers or praise concerning that situation or your money from more investments. You want to quit. You want to stop giving of yourself or at least reduce your output.

We all face the tendency to withdraw. We are tempted to withdraw from giving when finances are tight, from laughter and joy when things are not going our way, from prayer, if the answer seems delayed or from teaching protégée or children, because it seems they are not getting all that we've been teaching. Sometimes we want to crawl into our shells and just shut out the whole world. We have had it to our necks and we are not giving or pouring out anymore. 

This is not a wise decision however. The worst thing you can do in drought is to withhold. It is not God's method. His method is to scatter and sow.  Withholding causes things to shrink. That's what Satan wants you to do. He wants to force you into a small restricted corner.  He wants your world to cave in into you since the world of the scatterer gets larger and larger and the world of the hoarder gets smaller and smaller(Proverbs 11:25).  

So don't yield to the temptation to withdraw or withhold. Keep pouring out in the drought of your life like Isaac did. Pour out more love into your marriage. Sow more encouragement and help to others. Keep giving to God financially. Keep looking for ways to bless others. Instead of withdrawing into depression, let the joy of the Lord flow out of you.The circumstances should not dictate how you act. Let the word of God do.  When you feel encompassed by fear, that's when to act. There is drought out there but you are not observing the wind or regarding the clouds. You are casting your bread on the waters in season and out of season.

The blessing came on Isaac's seed in famine producing a hundredfold. You have that same blessing too. You are child of the promise like Isaac. As you obey God in continually pouring out even when things are tight, His blessing will rain upon you droughts and your precious seeds will grow and increase. If you had withheld and the rain came, there would have been nothing in the ground to water. So keep pouring out. Sow in the midst of the famine, God will multiply your seeds. 

Decision of the Day

When I am pressurized to stop, I will no quit. When all points to withholding, I will keep pouring out. I am a blessed person. I will sow even when the climate seems contrary. I not give up praying, loving, tithing, praising etc.  God will bless my seeds. 

Sowing in Famine