Now there was a famine in the land, besides the
former famine that was in the days of Abraham. 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, English Standard Version
There is provision; then there is covenantal provision. Provision
flows out of God’s common grace, His goodness showered to all people like good
rains, sunshine and the like; covenantal provision flows out of His special
grace to those who have set themselves apart to His mission in the earth. So
when the economy goes belly up, a drought sets in, or things just don’t work
out, covenantal provision kicks in to provide for God’s person on His mission.
Covenantal provision is always based on God’s covenant
promise. He made covenant with Abraham and promised to bless him with land,
innumerable descendants, and use him and his children as a conduit for blessing
to this cursed world fulfilled by the redemption brought by His son Jesus
Christ. Abraham’s obedience set his son Isaac to be in line for God’s
covenantal provision when there was a famine in the Promised Land. (By the way,
the fact that you are where God said you should be or done what God said you
should do, is no guarantee that things won’t go bad. The only guarantee the
saint has in this fallen world is God’s ability to pull him/her through to
complete his/her mission. And, of course, the guarantee of the ever-present
evil of this fallen world).
So Isaac moves to Gerar from the Promised Land. Before he
makes his way to Egypt – read big city, big lights – God says to him to remain
in Gerar and that He would bless him according to His covenant with Abraham his
father. That should have gone against the grain of thinking in such hard times
when people flock to the big cities where there is the hope sustenance. For God’s
person on mission what matters is not what everybody says makes sense or what
one thinks makes sense but what God says. Because when Isaac stayed, he set
himself up for covenantal provision that manifested itself in God’s protection,
prosperity, perseverance, and promotion.
May you not make a decision today based simply on what
makes sense to you, is profitable to you, or is easy to do! May you not move
where you are to “greener pastures” just because everyone around you is doing
so! May you seek to hear from God and move when God says to! May you remember
today that His path is the one of greater glory for you than your survival path!
