2 Samuel 21:1
“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.”
Throughout the Scriptures, God often sent famines to get His people to respond to something they needed to correct. The verse above shows this to be true when God sent a famine because Saul had unjustly slain a group of people. The blood of the Gibeonites had to be avenged, and the only way God could get David to do this was to send a famine. David responded accordingly, and God ended the famine.
Just like God sent famines to get Israel’s attention, He also sends them into the lives of Christians to get them to respond to something He wants from them. It could be a financial famine, a famine of unanswered prayers, a health famine, or a time of lack in some area of your life. In these times of famine, it is important for a Christian to examine some areas where they may need to correct.
First, examine your life to see if there is a sin that needs to be removed. Just like Israel had sin that had not been dealt with, God may allow you to go through a time of famine to get you to examine yourself to see if there is some sin you need to remove. The first thing you should do in a time of famine is to see if there is a sin in your life that needs to be resolved. Maybe you haven’t forgiven someone, or maybe you did someone wrong with whom you need to get right. When you are experiencing a time of famine, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to correct, and be sure to correct it when He reveals it.
Second, God could be sending a famine to get you to pray. Sadly, the only time God can get some Christians to pray is during times of famine. You ought to continually pray if you want to stop experiencing so many famines. God wouldn’t have to send you through so many famines to get you to pray if you regularly spent time in prayer.
Third, God could be sending a famine to make your relationship with Him better. If a famine makes a person pray, it will result in a stronger relationship with God. Have you ever thought that maybe God wants to get closer to you, and the only way to do this is to get you to spend more time in prayer? Stop complaining so much about the famine, and enjoy the relationship your building with God through it. The famines you endure can become a sweet time of remembrance if you build your relationship with God. Let the famine be a building time and not a complaining time.
Fourth, God could be sending a famine to build your faith and trust in Him. The stronger your faith is in God, the more He can do through you. The Christian lives by faith, and it takes a strong faith to step out on the greater endeavors God wants you to achieve. If you were to look back at how strong your faith was before and after a spiritual famine, you would always see that it grew through the famine. Likewise, God is building your faith so that you will trust Him more. The more trust you have in God, the more trust He will have in you.
Are you going through a famine? Don’t let your famine be a time of waste. Let these four areas be reminders of what you should do during the famine so that it becomes a time of fruitfulness and growth.