Maxium Victory Center

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.  Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;  because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”NKJV

Isaac was the son of Abraham and actual heir to his (Abraham’s) estate. During Isaac’s time there was a famine like that of his father’s time. The Bible is very clear and emphatic on this matter because there is a reason for the same. When Abraham arrived in the land of promise he did not settle immediately but he continued to move south until he came to the land of Egypt; upon arriving in Egypt Abraham began to fear for himself, he started formulating his own means for survival. In the land of Canaan, though he was a stranger there as well but there is no evidence of him fearing for his life. This is so because he trusted God to protect him from all kinds of adversity. However when he arrived in Egypt he started to see how the Egyptians coveted his beautiful wife Sarai and he feared that they might kill him to have her. He instructed her to lie that he was his sister. Later pharaoh took her to be wife and Abraham took dowry for his own wife.

Genesis 12:10-13; ‘‘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. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.  Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.  Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”NKJV. This is very interesting because there is no evidence of any other person moving to Egypt to escape the famine. This tells us that this famine was in Abraham’s thoughts, and he made a mistake of disobeying the voice of the Lord and moving far from the land of promise, however let us go back to the previous line of discussion. Just as in the time of Abraham, Isaac is also in the same situation but God wanted to assert His authority with Isaac and He says to him ‘do not go to Egypt and stay in the land that I show you and I will bless you’’ the point to note in this is that the philistines in whose land Isaac was living at the time didn’t go Egypt and yet the Bible talks about a famine in the whole land Genesis 26:1. NKJV

God says ‘don’t go’ this means that He is able to bless you even when it is obvious that the season for blessing is not apparent to the eyes of other people. Today I want to encourage you that God is not a respecter of person’s opinions, His ways are always above ours in every aspect. God is not controlled by our circumstance and situations but He can move through His people even when the enemy shows you that there is no hope. Nobody expected to harvest anything in the time of famine but the Bible is clear that when Isaac heeded to the voice of God, there was abundant harvest and blessing. This tells us that when we hear the voice of God and clear all the confusion in and around us, we are able to receive blessing from God in abundance.

God wants us to listen to His voice alone in the midst of all what is happening around us, in our lives, circumstances, situations and all. Isaac’s was exposed to so many voices at the time but he made the right choice;

Voice number one – Situation

Isaac you have so much at stake and this famine will definitely finish you off if you don’t do something about it. Look at your flocks, where will get grazing grounds for them, where is the water for them to drink? Find somewhere to be safe from this severe drought; you see it is very severe; nobody can survive this kind of weather conditions with such flocks. You know the losses will be monumental for you if you remain ignorant to this problem, common man, open your eyes, are you blind, and deaf. Can somebody speak sense into him? The whole time the enemy wants Isaac to disobey God, by being very persuasive and sensible so that he can try helping himself.

Voice number two- Common sense

A successful farmer like Isaac is bound by the law of decency, common sense, jurisprudence and genuine instinct to survive both with his big herds and servants to seek a safe haven for them in such times. It defies all common sense to be stubborn in such times; you are headed for total financial ruin Isaac, look around you; do you want to be a pauper or what?

Voice number three – God’s

Don’t go to Egypt! I know that the famine is severe but My Word is above the famine. My voice is beyond the voice of drought. I own all the seasons, I control the rains, and I own the time just stay where I say you stay. God wanted Isaac to understand the kind of power that He had and His intentions for him. Yes I am aware that you have concerns about your flocks, servants and but I am saying stay put. This reminds me of the incident in John 5:6 ‘When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” NKJV. The man didn’t know who Jesus was but Jesus knew who the man was and He also knew what was good for him at that time. The man wanted to qualify, justify his situation and at the same time underline the obvious, but Jesus intentions for the man was to heal him. The man was still tied to his own version of his situation, circumstances and environment. He was sorry for himself; he was not good enough to get into the stirred water in time.

What I am saying is that God speaks to us in many occasions and we miss His Voice because of our own opinions, knowledge, experiences, wisdom, you just name it. We forget that the plans that God has for us are always better than our own any time of the day. Jeremiah 29:11 God says ‘‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’’ clearly what His intentions are towards us are, but we are so busy and full of opinions, analysis, knowledge and wisdom to listen to His voice, His voice is plain and simple, despite what you are going through, I am aware of it and I intend to do you good in the midst of your terrible adversity, just listen to Me for I am able to change your disaster waiting to happen into such a blessing that you’ll testify to entire world of My mighty works and blessing amongst My people.

With your permission, can I engage your intellect a bit? Kindly answer these questions to yourself truthfully and honestly.

1. Do you think you know what season it is more than God?
2. Do you think you know what is good for you than your Creator?
3. Can you help yourself more than your Maker can?
4. Do you care for yourself more than He does?

What are you answers? Whatever it is I surely know one thing that you can not afford nor want to ignore this Voice! God says that you should trust Him with your life and you shall be safe, Isaiah 3:10. He will protect and no shame shall come to you ever. trust His voice, ignore your judgment of the situations and circumstances and you will come out of it with such a such earthmoving testimony that your enemies will seek to be at peace with you even before you reach out to them. May God of grace remember you and keep you through the entire crises in your life. Amen.

This devotional is written by Bishop Joseph Koburu Mukiira of Maximum Victory Centre Nairobi Kenya and brought to you courtesy of Journey to Joy Ministries International Inc. USA.

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