Genesis 26:1-3 Now there was a famine in the land…and Isaac went down to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live… and I will be with you and bless you.
Isaac is God’s Promise – he is the promised child to Abraham; he is God’s Blessing. Yet, there is a famine in the land. In fact, it's not just one famine it’s two! Abraham had his famine and now Isaac gets his.
And here is what’s so profound about this picture…
You can be in the place of God’s Promise, you can be in the middle of God’s Blessing, but you are surrounded by famine!
Some people think that the Blessing of the Lord means a trouble-free life filled with comfort and convenience.
But comfort and convenience often will not cooperate with Calling. That’s because you need to step out of your comfort zone to step into the zone of your Calling. Learning to step out in faith with God will always feel uncomfortable and is usually inconvenient.
Attending church regularly is often inconvenient; learning to tithe will be inconvenient; praying and praising will often make you feel uncomfortable at first.
So don’t be guided by comfort and/or convenience in your life. Don’t confuse these with God’s peace.
God called Isaac “blessed” even in a time of famine.
Ephesians 1:3 says that we have been blessed in the heavenlies with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
"Spiritual blessing" here is the word “pneumatikos” - which means having characteristics and properties of the Spirit: all your blessings come through the power and grace of the Spirit. They are not dependent on you but on Christ. Amen!
Isaac was blessed because God called Him blessed and you are blessed because the Word of God also calls you blessed with every spiritual blessing. And what we see in Isaac’s life are his circumstances changing to come into agreement with God’s declared Word. And it will be the same for you. If you are looking to your surroundings to obtain evidence of being blessed, you are focusing on the wrong source – that’s not faith.
Faith starts and ends by looking to Christ. Understand this spiritual truth and start meditating upon that over your life and like Isaac, you too will see the manifestation of blessing even during times of famine.