Walking with God in Famine

A famine in the land of Canaan

There was a man named Abram that had a special place in God's heart. God spoke to Abram and told him to get out of his country and enter into a land that He would show to him. Abram obeyed and entered into this land, called Canaan, which God had prepared for him and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-4). But some time after Abram had entered into this land, there came upon it a famine (Genesis 12:10).

There are many things that can be learned from looking at how Abram responded to this famine. We hear nothing of Abram asking God to provide for his needs. We don’t hear of Abram asking God what his next move should be. We don’t hear of Abram trustfully waiting on God to speak. God had proven Himself to Abram already by leading him on a several hundred mile journey into the land of Canaan, but as soon as the hardship came, he seems to have altogether forgotten about the faithful leading of God.

Instead, Abram established his own plans. He knew that the land in Egypt was well watered by the river Nile, suggesting that soil would be fertile, which in turn likely produced sufficient food. Abram, without consulting God, decided to leave the land that God had called him into, to go to Egypt. Since Abram had departed from trusting in God, the ground in his heart was ripe for anxiety and fear to continue to breed. We see that as Abram was approaching Egypt he became afraid, thinking that the Egyptians would see the exceeding beauty of his wife and be jealous, which would lead them to kill him. Again, instead of trusting in God he devised a lie and said that Sarai, his wife, was actually his sister. When Pharaoh was drawn by her beauty he invited her into his house, believing she was not yet married. Because of this God brought a curse upon Egypt until Abram and Sarai were reunited and sent back to Canaan (Genesis 12:10-17).

Is this what it looks like to walk with God? Should we only walk with God in times of prosperity, and forsake Him when our circumstances become challenging? Many times the moments of hardship lead us to turn to our own strength and wisdom because we feel as though immediate action on our part is necessary in order to respond to the situation. But the truth is that these moments of hardship are usually the times when we need the peace, direction, and strength of God the most.

Who is our God?

We’ll find that before we can confidently trust God we must first come to know who He is. As we come to know the character of our God more — the more we see His love, mercy, kindness, faithfulness, power — then we will find ourselves walking with God closer than ever before. It is foolish to think that we will endure with God through hardships if we don’t really know who He is. Truly, it should be the cry of our heart for God to reveal Himself more to us just as Moses pleaded with God, saying “Please, show me Your glory” ((Exodus 33:18)).

There is no pursuit more worthwhile than seeking after God. There is no other pursuit that will yield greater rewards than seeking after God — for what we gain in this process is a lasting transformation of our soul, a greater realization of what true life is, the very life that God desired for humanity before sin brought about a corruption of all that was good. And the reason why we can set out to seek after God in the first place with an assurance of success is because the Creator of life greatly desires to reveal Himself to us.

“Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us… And always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures.”

Simply, He is

So, who is God? Our God is the Creator of life. He is the source of everything that is good. His love is so great that it cannot be measured. His thoughts towards us are so numerous that they cannot be counted — they number more than the sand (Psalm 139:17-18). He hates sin — yet He loves humanity despite our sinful nature. He provided a way for us to be redeemed from a life of sin, whose end is separation from God, through His son Jesus Christ. And He tirelessly works to show His goodness, faithfulness, and love to all who receive Him into their life with a simple trust.

Would we desire to come to know the character of our God more, and enter into a closer daily walk with Him. If, along our walk, we find ourselves in a time of famine, then let us recall who our God is — “remember the things of old”, and know that our God will carry us, He will bear us, and He will deliver us.

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? … Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.”