๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข When there are major decisions in your life, who do you seek advice from?
โข What is one topic that you read up on out of personal interest? What interesting information did you discover about it?ย
โข What is one seemingly illogical advice you followed, which proved to be a wise thing to do? Briefly share what happened.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ข๐ข๐ค ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต; ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฒ:๐ญ-๐ฏ
(Read also ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฒ:๐ฐโ๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ฎโ๐ญ๐ฐ.)
We see in this passage that Isaac was confronted with a very challenging situationโa famine in their land. Any person under such circumstances would try to come up with a solution, and Isaac was no exception. Today, we will see how Isaac responded to this challenge in two ways. Together, may Isaacโs response help us flourish in our own walk with God.
๐ญ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต; ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ๐ด.โย ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฒ:๐ฎ-๐ฑ
Isaac had witnessed the devotion of Abraham, his father, to God. He knew from experience how clearly God had spoken to him. Faced with a difficult situation that could alter the course of his life, it is likely that Isaac was actively seeking guidance. He remembered that when Abraham had also faced a famine and moved to Egypt to secure all his possessions. Isaac seemed to be inclined to do the same thing. But while he made his own plans, he remained open to hear from God and was sensitive to His leading. And God did speak: God did not only tell Isaac exactly what to do, He also assured him that the promise given to Abraham would be passed on to him. God assured Isaac of His presence in his life. Share about a time when you desperately sought Godโs guidance. What did you do and how did God speak to you?
๐ฎ. ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ข๐ข๐ค ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ. . . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ข๐ข๐ค ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ . . . ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฒ:๐ฒ,๐ญ๐ฎ
Isaac did exactly what God had commanded him to do. In our natural minds, staying in a land where there is famine may not be a good idea. But that is what Isaac did. He ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ, just as God had said. He planted crops in that land, showing his complete faith and trust in God. In return, God blessed his obedience with a hundredfold harvest ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณโduring a famine. Sometimes, what God tells us makes no sense. But, just like Isaac, we can expect God to do miraculous things. When we obey His word, He will reward our obedience.
God promised that if we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). His word is like a seed planted in our hearts. This seed will grow and bear fruit, and we will experience a harvest of His word. When we seek God through His word and obey Him, we will experience His reality in our lives.ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How do you respond to Godโs commands that are difficult to obey? Ask God to show you how you can grow in trusting Him and pray that you would obey Him wholeheartedly.
โข Is the word of God the source of your wisdom? What are you willing to do to have a greater hunger for His word this week? (e.g., spending time praying, meditating on, and confessing Godโs word)
โข Do you believe that whenever God blesses our obedience, it does not just affect us, but also the people around us? How can your obedience create a platform for you to share about Godโs goodness in your life and point people to Him?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His guidance that puts you in a place where you can be fruitful. Ask God for greater sensitivity to the leading of His Spirit.ย
โข Pray that your life would be marked by obedience to His word. Ask God to fill your heart with faith to believe that He is a God of miracles, and that He will reward your obedience with His blessing.
โข This week, pray that God would lead you to someone who does not yet know Him. Ask God to prepare you to tell this person about who God is, what He has done, and how He continues to provide for you.