Flourishing in Hard Times

 

No doubt we are in very challenging times, there seems to be crisis everywhere, and most economies in the world are affected. Many Christians have become casualties of the the economic hardship that is raging across the world, and worst still is that many seem really helpless even in the face of the obvious help that God has promised His people.

 

This piece seeks to highlight a few important points that could be of significance in helping the believer to flourish in these hard times.

 

1.     Know that your sins are forgiven and enter His rest

 

And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. Gen.26:1

 

The bible records that that there was a famine in the land and Isaac moved to Gerar. Gerar signifies a lodging place or a place of rest. Many believers have yet to come to that place of rest in Christ. They still live with a consciousness of sin, and of guilt, they are yet to rest in the finished work of Christ.

 

You may ask how is this important and how does it tie to flourishing in hard times? Well, it is the foundation of everything and I asked the same question to the Holy Spirit, His answer was remarkable. He said to me “a guilty conscience cannot prosper because it cannot exercise faith.”

 

Now you see the relationship, if you have not come to that place of rest, where you have accepted all done for you by Christ and enter His rest, you will continue to struggle in other areas of life. See other bible verses that buttress the point.

 

Heb.10:17 “And their sins and their lawless acts I will remember no more [no longer holding their sins against them].” (AMP)

 

2 Cor.5:19 Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. (GNT)

 

Have a conscience free from guilt and condemnation, it is the foundation for you to prosper in all things

 

2.     Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit and follow

 

And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Gen.26:2

 

And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: Gen.26:6

 

Isaac dwelt in Gerar beacause he heard and obeyed the Lord. This is very crucial because your flourishing isn’t tied to any particular geographical location, but to the leading of the Lord. It is not enough to be led by the Lord, you must follow the leading. I personally believe that many believers receive the leading of the Lord, but do not follow, hence the struggle, because that amounts to swimming against the tides.

 

Isa.48:17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. (NKJV)

 

If you want your life to be profitable, if you want to flourish in hard times, follow the leading of the Lord.

 

3.     Sow in that land

 

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. Gen.26:12

 

Isaac moved to the place of rest and kept following the leading of the Lord, then he sowed in that land. Sowing is hard work particularly in famine, it involves putting your faith to work and looking away from the circumstances that surrounds you.

 

James 2:17 says faith without works is dead.

 

Don’t be presumptuous to think that because your sins are forgiven and you are being led by Spirit, you are excepted from hard work.

 

Put your hand to the work where you are and watch how God’s grace will multiply your effort and cause you to flourish regardless of the hardship in the land.

 

4.     Dig your wells

 

Isaac refused to move away from Gerar, rather he dug wells Gen 26:16-22

 

Refuse to be moved away from your place of rest, no matter the storms or rage of the devil.

 

Stay strong and continue to dig your wells in prayer.