He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. Ecclesiastes 11:4
For some reason, the fear of insufficiency tends to overshadow our faith in God. When we see the storms coming, we tend to withhold our seeds. In 1 Kings 17, a woman almost brought about her own financial collapse because of this fear. Her barrel of meal was nearly empty, so she stopped giving to God. Though she was under divine command to feed the prophet Elijah, she decided to disobey the Lord’s command (17:9-12). The fear of insufficiency had gripped her. When Elijah realized the problem, he immediately addressed the issue. He encouraged her to give toward her future harvest and not from her past shortages. “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah” (17:15-16). Her victory came swiftly. The seed she planted resulted in a miracle harvest for herself, her son and Elijah. If you are willing to take God at His word, no matter what situation you may be in, God can perform His word.
In Genesis, we read of how Isaac was living in a difficult time of famine. He was overcome by the fear of insufficiency and made plans to leave the Promised Land, the land of God’s provision. He was heading to Egypt, the land of man’s provision. But God appeared to Isaac 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” (Gen. 26:2-3). Isaac obeyed. In the next few verses, you will find that he sowed precious seeds into the famine-parched land. How foolish he must have seemed to the unbelievers. It looked like a total waste to plant good seeds then.
But Isaac used his faith as a shield against bad news and the advice of the best minds of his day. He boldly obeyed God. He knew that if he sowed no seed, there would be no hope for a harvest. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him” (26:12-14). Again you see that if a person is willing to obey the voice of God no matter how bad the economy may seem, God is going to perform what He promised. Similarly, we can put away every fear of insufficiency and start sowing toward our future today!
For some reason, the fear of insufficiency tends to overshadow our faith in God. When we see the storms coming, we tend to withhold our seeds. In 1 Kings 17, a woman almost brought about her own financial collapse because of this fear. Her barrel of meal was nearly empty, so she stopped giving to God. Though she was under divine command to feed the prophet Elijah, she decided to disobey the Lord’s command (17:9-12). The fear of insufficiency had gripped her. When Elijah realized the problem, he immediately addressed the issue. He encouraged her to give toward her future harvest and not from her past shortages. “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah” (17:15-16). Her victory came swiftly. The seed she planted resulted in a miracle harvest for herself, her son and Elijah. If you are willing to take God at His word, no matter what situation you may be in, God can perform His word.
In Genesis, we read of how Isaac was living in a difficult time of famine. He was overcome by the fear of insufficiency and made plans to leave the Promised Land, the land of God’s provision. He was heading to Egypt, the land of man’s provision. But God appeared to Isaac 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” (Gen. 26:2-3). Isaac obeyed. In the next few verses, you will find that he sowed precious seeds into the famine-parched land. How foolish he must have seemed to the unbelievers. It looked like a total waste to plant good seeds then.
But Isaac used his faith as a shield against bad news and the advice of the best minds of his day. He boldly obeyed God. He knew that if he sowed no seed, there would be no hope for a harvest. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him” (26:12-14). Again you see that if a person is willing to obey the voice of God no matter how bad the economy may seem, God is going to perform what He promised. Similarly, we can put away every fear of insufficiency and start sowing toward our future today!
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