Morning Moments

The Famine - Read Genesis 12

We are looking at how God grows us. In Genesis 13, we have considered the fight or conflict due to the great expansion of the herds of Uncle Abe and his nephew Lot. In Genesis 12 we see that "Abram went down into Egypt."

My wife and I were in Egypt with our dear friends Ivor and Betty Powell several years ago. For the most part Egypt is a desolate place of sand. It is a type of the world which offers us nothing lasting. On the other hand, Canaan was a land of milk and honey, but the cow ran dry and the honey vanished. It is always easier to flee a famine than to face a famine in faith.

To be sure, God uses the famines of life to grow us, as He did Abram and others. Remember the story of Ruth? She fled a famine and lost her family. There was a famine later in Jacob's day and he sent his sons to Egypt for food. "Famine" is used 18 times in the book of Genesis.

Now let's get to the point. The purpose of a famine is to move us to look for something we desperately need and do not have. The lack of what we need physically brings a gnawing and agony inside that will cause us to eat what we have never before eaten. I remember the plane crash a few years ago in which survivors became so desperate for food that they would actually eat the flesh of those who died. What a horrible thought, but I want you to see how God places us as believers in desperate situations of famine (spiritual, mental, emotional, etc) to DRIVE us to the sustainer of life. Sometimes that desperation comes from a need for affection, attention, admiration, acceptance, or whatever, but HE and HE ALONE is the need meeter. It is through LOSS that we find plenty. BUT we must look to the right source and not settle for cheap substitutes.

Years ago a old friend said, "the whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead." What he was saying was that flour, salt, and sugar are killing us because they are substitutes for nutritional foods. Don't miss the point. We can build the buildings, run the busses, balance the budget, and all the rest that LOOKS successful and yet starve to death spiritually. The ONLY nourishment in FAMINE is Bread and Water. Jesus is the Bread of Life and He creates in us Springs of Living Water.

If you find a gnawing deep inside, please know that no spouse, parent, child, job, church, pastor, or anything else can satisfy your hunger. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be FILLED."

PRAYER: Lord, there have been so many times in my life that I have settled for the cheap substitutes in life. Trying to survive rather than trusting YOU to satisfy. Thank You for bringing me to the place of famine, that I might find fulness in JESUS alone. I do love you Lord and want you to help me understand that NO ONE and NO THING can satisfy this longing in our souls but JESUS.