Obedience and Blessing

“Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham…” (Genesis 26:1, ESV).

If you’re a farmer and your whole sustenance depends on crops, you don’t want to hear about famine in the land. Nor do you want to hear “besides the former famine.” Isaac was facing a famine. His father had been through a famine, and now he was going through a second one. He probably had memories of how difficult the first one had been, and there was concern in his heart.

The Bible says something interesting: “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; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring 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’” (Genesis 26:1-5).

In verse 5, the key word is “obeyed.” Abraham obeyed the Lord, and so did Isaac. In fact, Isaac was gloriously obedient to God. I want to say this clearly and simply: When we obey God, the result is his blessing. We are saved by grace, and yet we are called by God to be an obedient people.

When you take a step of faith and say, “God, this is hard. I’m not sure I can do this, but I’m going to obey,” the windows of heaven will open to you.

No matter what God asks you to do, obey him. If he tells you to give, obey him. If he tells you to go, obey him. Don’t live by what you want to do; live by what God wants you to do, and you will find he answers with a blessing.