Today’s message is a guest entry from David G. Johnson of Epiphany Marketing, LLC.

“AND THERE was a famine in the land… and Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.’” (Genesis 26:1-3)

We’re hearing so much this year about the economy, the housing market, the falling dollar and business conditions in general. Hopefully, your business and family are not being affected by it personally, but whether you are or not, hearing about it frequently can have a mental, emotional and even spiritual impact.

With a variety of industries suffering in the local community here, I’ve had this passage from Genesis 26 on my heart quite a bit lately. Isaac found himself and his household surrounded by difficult conditions, and it’s hard to imagine how that may have weighed on his mind. As casual readers, we sometimes forget that his household was most likely substantial, with a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of people looking to him for answers. Today, he might be the owner of a small company — perhaps with 50 employees or more.

What to do?

What’s interesting to me is that when Isaac heard from God, the instructions he received were very counter-intuitive. Egypt would’ve been a safe haven for a nomadic family like his to go and find trading partners. But God instructed him to essentially start a business in a failing industry in an economy that was suffering, and in physical conditions that would not support his new venture. When there’s a famine, it’s generally not the best time to go into agriculture!

But when you have instructions from God, you have hope that others do not have! We’ll pick this subject up again in the next message, but in the meantime, consider this question: Are you getting instructions from God in this season, or are you allowing the conditions around you to shape your thinking?

Darkness is what manifests the light. It was out of the darkness that the magi saw and followed a star that led them to the light of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the stars… they are always in the sky but only visible when it’s dark. We need the darkness to see the promise, to see the stars, to see what’s possible. When the light returns we know the stars are still there.

We need the darkness to reveal our weakness to ourselves that we may look up to the stars, the promise, the hope that is Jesus Christ. When we have wrestled with God in the night season like Jacob of old, we may well spend the rest of our life walking with a limp, but we never again will doubt God for we have seen him. It is in that wrestling and struggling with God that He redefines for us our very nature and purpose. (See Genesis 32 for details) Jacob which means “supplanter” was named Israel which means “a prince, one who rules as God”.

I am well acquainted with the night season and have learned to gaze at the stars and see the promise of God. It seems to make the night season shorter. If you are in a night season, take advantage of this opportunity to see wonders you may never have seen before. Press into God and gaze into His wonder. Wrestle with Him, even if it breaks your leg. You will emerge in the new day with a new sense of identity and more directed purpose. That in itself is a treasure worth finding!

I feel impressed to share an excerpt with you from the one-year devotional my wife Brenda and I wrote some years ago, called Grace for Grief. There are some of you right now that know folks who are walking through the grief process who this might help. Each day we quote a Scripture passage and then a prayer to God from one who has buried two children. This is not head knowledge. It is from the heart. Here is the excerpt from Wednesday of Week 12…

Scripture Passage…

“So place yourself under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good. Be firm in the faith and resist him, knowing that other believers throughout the world are going through the same kind of suffering. If you faint in a crisis, you are weak.” (James 4:7, Romans 12:21, 1 Peter 5:9, Proverbs 24:10)

Prayer Response…
Today I feel outgunned, outnumbered and all alone. The darkness within eclipses the sunlight without. Then it comes… I remember Your word and submit my thoughts and feelings to You. I resist the tormentor of my soul by drawing close to you and take heart that this path I walk, all people must walk. I am strengthened by the knowledge that you are with me always.

Grace For Grief (Hardcover)

 John tells us in 1 John 3, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:” He has called us sons, and if we are sons, Paul tells us in Romans 8, we are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.” Now I love this sonship concept, this idea of being a joint-heir with Christ. It sounds powerful and the ramifications truly are life altering, even nation altering. But there’s a price…

Hebrews 12 tells us “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons;” Want to know what it really means to walk as a son in this world? Submit yourself to God as your father. Learn the meaning of obedience. Without obedience to the Father we are wayward children, “walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: and are by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Eph 2)

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