Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
[Genesis 12:10]
This scripture teaches us that the fact that you are in the will of God doesn’t mean all will be rosy from A-Z. It doesn’t mean the road will be easy, broad and straight throughout the journey.
After travelling from his comfort zone into the Promised Land, Abraham encounters severe famine. That could make one question whether one has truly heard from God to move out in the first place.
Same was the case of Gideon (Judges 6). He was threshing wheat in the winepress ostensibly to hide it from the oppressors, the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord came and said the Lord was with him, Gideon’s question was, “Why then are these things happening to us?” We know so well about Joseph in Egypt. This is what Bible says:
Potiphar became very angry and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept. While Joseph was in prison, the LORD helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. The jailer did not worry about anything, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did (Genesis 39:19-23, CEV). My logic would have been that if God is with me, I shouldn’t find myself in prison on fabricated charges in the first place. Indeed, God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
This is the reason we must be convinced we’ve heard from God before we take major steps. In the parable of Jesus on the wise man building upon the rock and the foolish man building in the sand, the flood and the winds came against both structures. They didn’t spare the building that was on the rock. It’s just that the one on the rock had super foundation and was able to withstand the adverse weather conditions. Abraham would have doubted God and become despondent if he were not sure he heard from God, now that there’s severe famine in the very land God promised him.
No matter who you marry, there’ll be storms in the marriage at one time or the other. No matter the juicy employment contract and the place of work, there’ll be storms. However, once you’re convinced God is with you, your anchor will hold and you will sail boldly through the storm.
The Lord help us through the night seasons of life until His will is perfected in our lives. Amen
