Tag Archives: famine

It’s A Famine

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I King 17:1-6

We live in a dry and barren land, don’t we? So many people are trying so hard to be “somebody,” they debase themselves for clicks and likes. If you can stomach it, scroll through Instagram. You’ll see many, many people sitting in their cars with their phones propped up on the dash, staring into the camera and moaning, wailing, emoting about some perceived injustice they’ve just experienced. You might hear others proclaiming their “truth” as though anyone actually values their opinions. Or, if you’re lucky, you might even find someone purring and licking their hands like a kitten.

I’m not saying there isn’t some good content in social media. But I am saying you don’t have to look very hard to find the under-belly, the pathetic attention seekers whose lives have no meaning apart from what they hope will be their ticket to fame and fortune.

“Maybe my next video will go viral.”

These lost souls and those who contribute to their delusion with clicks and likes are starving to death. They feed on the ridiculous, the immoral, the delusional.

Garbage in. Garbage out. There are millions of people who are spiritually and emotionally starving themselves while living in the richest country in the world.

When God sent a famine to punish Israel, one man was not effected. Elijah, a man of God, allowed God to feed him. Morning and night, Elijah ate all that God provided.

Can you say the same? Do you, morning and night, devour God’s Word? Do you communicate with God through quiet prayer and allow Him to feed your soul?

I’m not talking about podcasts, books, and blogs (yes, this one included) that comment about the Bible. I’m talking about YOU opening YOUR Bible and reading for YOURSELF what God has written to YOU. If you allowed your best friend to eat three meals a day for you while you fed on sand, you would die. If you allow your pastor or teacher read the Bible for you… same.

A spiritual, emotional, and moral famine is spreading throughout our society. You can choose to feed on the food of fools, or you can feast on the bounty that is God. One choice leads to death. The other to life.

I think you know which choice I’m praying you’ll make.

Famine in the Land

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When the Bible talks about a famine in the land, I look for the spiritual application for the times when my relationship with God dries up. You know those times, right? When God seems so far away, when you have a longing that isn’t realized. Something is missing. You feel lost and alone, scared and sad.

I also think reading about famine in the Bible refers to the Church’s lack of ability to grow, to reach lost souls for Jesus.

So what can we learn about the dry days in our personal lives and in our churches? Joseph instructed the Egyptians in Genesis 47 to give him everything: their material possessions as well as their own bodies. They could hold nothing back. They laid it all at Joseph’s feet and in return, he gave them everything they needed. 

Now here’s something important to remember. The Egyptians didn’t receive what Joseph gave them and go home and turn on the TV. They went to work. They planted crops that would feed their families and produce seed to keep planting food to feed their families. They paid their taxes with the grain they planted, cultivated, and reaped.

God wants us to do the same. Whether it’s our own personal time of drought or an ineffective church, we are told to bring everything to God, lay it at his feet and leave it there. We cannot hold anything back.

Our material possessions? His. Our health? His. Our dreams, our fears, our jobs, our relationships? His. Our families and our bodies given to him with no strings attached.

God wants us to know that he will give us everything we need. He’ll feed us and revive us, give us strength and assurance. Then we need to get to work. God will bless us and care for us. But we need to be obedient.

He’s given us his Word. Do we read it? He’s promised to hear our prayers. Do we pray? He’s told us he will go with us and help us share the gospel. Do we talk about him to those who need him? He tells us to flee sin, to guard our hearts, to be separate from the world. How’s that going?

Jesus said he is the Bread of Life and the Living Water. May we allow him to feed us, to refresh us, and may we get out there and point others to the One who can satisfy their souls, too.

Father, I thank you for being everything we need every minute of every day. May we who are experiencing a kind of famine in our souls follow Joseph’s example and bring everything we have and are and lay them at your feet. May we trust you to provide what we need and may we enjoy the blessings that come from feeding on the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Then, Lord may we serve you with grateful hearts. May others find you because we are faithful.