God’s 10,000% Blessing

“When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him” (Gen. 26:12, NLT).

What a marvelous harvest this chosen son of covenant reaped! Just doubling what he sowed would have been 100% return on this seed. That means that a hundred times as much comes out to 10,000% return! I’m sure any of us would be thrilled with that kind of blessing on the work of our hands, aren’t you?

What makes this even more amazing is that it happened during a year of widespread catastrophic hunger. Earlier in the chapter we learn, “A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time” (v. 1). A famine! During a time when innumerable families were suffering, Isaac was abounding in God’s goodness.

This is a spiritual picture for us. We have been living through very difficult times. Turmoil has moved over the entire planet in waves we had never experienced before. In the midst of the suffering that surrounds us, God has a covenant with you and me.… just as He did with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, His Word teaches us that the covenant He has with us is far superior. If Isaac could be supernaturally blessed during a time of severe famine, so can you and I. And even more so.

This glorious principle applies in the area of our hope. The enemy would like nothing more than to extinguish our hope by broadcasting messages of doom loudly in our ears. He fights hard against your hope because he knows how powerful hope is. A believer overflowing with hope is a brilliant light on a hill. That light causes darkness to flee. The enemy loses, every time, when we live in vibrant hope irrespective of difficult circumstances around us.

What exactly is hope? It is the positive expectation of good things up ahead. It is the anticipation of seeing “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps. 27:13, NKJV). When your heart knows that He has wonderful, beautiful things in store for you, you have hope. During uncertain times like these, we need Him to supernaturally endow us with His hope. It may not be easy to perceive encouraging things ahead. But when we draw near to Him, He will eagerly respond to us. He is the God of Hope. He will give us the supernatural ability to perceive the provision of His goodness in our future.

This is bedrock promise. We can depend on it completely. So here is the resulting stance that He calls us to: our “trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6:17, NLT). This timeless truth does not cease to apply during times of upheaval. Even if nations are in turmoil around you, Daddy God will continue to supernaturally provide you all you need for enjoyment. Right where you are, He will pour His joy and hope and peace and contentment into you. Draw near to Him. Trust Him with all your heart. Make Him your everything. During severe famine, He will pour out His 10,000% blessing on you!

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Have you experienced God’s supernatural provision during difficult times? How has He breathed hope into your heart when things seemed dark? I’d love to hear about it!