CHOOSING FAITH IN HARD PLACES
INTRODUCTION:
My dad was born in 1938 in Oklahoma…his life was hard. He was born into adversity. As you may recall, the 1930’s was must known for the Great Depression. It brought on a decade of suffering and financial hardship. But to complicate matters, it coincided with a wide-spread drought, known as the Dust Bowl, that hit the region known as the Great Plains (including the pan handle of Texas upward and westward to the Dakotas). And for the people living in those states…life was hard. Farms dried up, crops withered away, and devastation was vast. The land became so dry that the ground began to blow away. Dust filled the skies and covered everything.
In an attempt to survive, many families (like my dad’s), packed up their belongings and began a long difficult journey westward to California. In those days, California seemed like an oasis and a refuge.
I tell you that story, because most of us can relate. Maybe not to a literal drought, but we know what it’s like to stand in a hard place, a dry place, a place that doesn’t look promising in life.
Maybe for you, it’s a difficult family season, pressure at work, maybe a financial strain, or a health concern. Whatever it is, it doesn’t look fruitful, or hopeful, or like the kind of place where good could grow. And when that happens, it’s normal to look for a way out — to look for a fresh start, or a place with more resources, and new opportunities…maybe an easier place.
Now, to be clear, sometimes God DOES urge us to move. Sometimes He opens a door before us, or calls us to a new place.
But sometimes the answer isn’t a new place. Sometimes its to stay and trust Him through the hard place. Sometimes He just wants us to gain a new perspective. Sometimes what we need is simply the faith to trust God. Because faith is not only believing that God exists. It’s learning to trust Him in the midst of the pain. It’s learning to hear His voice in the midst of chaos. And that’s the story we find in Genesis 26. So if you have your Bible look there with me.
As Genesis 26 opens, we’re introduced to a man named Isaac. He’s the son of the great patriarch Abraham. If you know his story, Isaac was the child of promise — he was the miracle answer to the prayers Abraham and Sarah had prayed. God had called Abraham, blessed him, and promised to give his descendants the land of Canaan.
And yet, in Genesis 26:1, we’re told that Canaan was facing a famine. Like the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, Canaan had turned into a dust bowl. And in his efforts to survive…Isaac considered moving his family to Egypt. Egypt looked practical. Moving away seemed reasonable. But in that moment, God showed up, This is a fascinating story…so, follow along as I read, beginning with verse 2 — it says:
2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. — Genesis 26:2-6 (NIV)
That last line is remarkable to me:
“So Isaac stayed in Gerar.”
It’s remarkable because nothing about the famine had changed. The ground was still dry. The pressure was still real. Egypt was still an option. Nothing had changed — except, God had spoken.
And Isaac chose to trust in Him. And that’s really where faith begins. It doesn’t deny reality. It simply refuses to let the hard places have the final word.
So today, I want to talk to you about Choosing Faith In Hard Places.
Because all of us will face a hard place at some point in our lives. And if you’ll allow me, I’d like to give you three challenges from Genesis 26.
And the first is this:
1. LOOK FOR GOD IN THE HARD PLACE.
As we’ve already discovered, this chapter opens with a hard place. Isaac, and everyone else were all facing a real famine. That is not a minor detail. It’s a key part of this story. And like Isaac, we too face moments like this.
All of us, at some point, will have to walk through hard things — seasons we didn’t expect, burdens we didn’t choose, and difficulties we can’t fix quickly. And when those seasons come, it’s natural to assume something is wrong.
— Sometimes we think, we’re wrong (that we’ve done something to deserve it).
— Sometimes we think God’s wrong (that He’s forgotten us, or overlooked us, or abandoned us).
— And sometimes we think the place is wrong (like maybe we’re out of God’s will, in the wrong place),.
But Genesis 26 reminds us that difficulty is not always evidence of our sin, or God’s distance. Sometimes we face hard times because of the reality of life…and the fact that we live in a fallen world. And sometimes, we face hard places because God is seeking to grow us, to develop us, and to prove our faith in Him.
Let me remind you, Jesus faced hard places too…but not because He was wrong, or He was out of God’s will, but because God had a bigger purpose to use His hard places for good.
Isaac was the child of promise, living in the land of promise, given by the God of promise — and yet there was famine in the land. That means the presence of difficulty doesn’t equal the absence of God.
That’s an important word for some of us. When life becomes hard, we can misread the moment. We can assume that because the ground is dry, God must be distant; because the season is difficult, God must have forgotten us; or because we’re facing resistance, we must be outside of His care.
But God’s presence is not proven by the absence of hardship. God’s presence is proven by His faithfulness in the middle of it.
In Matthew 28:20, we read that Jesus said,
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
That’s not a promise of an easy life. But it is a promise that we’ll never walk through it alone.
Sometimes a hard place is a test. To prove what we’ve learned along the way.
Isaac had to learn that for himself. He’d inherited a strong testimony from Abraham, but he needed to learn to trust in God for himself. He needed to know firsthand that the God of Abraham was also the God of Isaac. He needed to know that God wasn’t only faithful in his father’s life; but that God would also be faithful in his life.
And that’s true for all of us. There comes a moment when our inherited faith must become our personal faith. There comes a moment when the God you’ve heard about has to become the God you trust for yourself. There comes a moment when you have to discover that God isn’t only faithful in somebody else’s story; but He’ll be faithful in yourS as well.
Maybe that’s where you are today. Maybe you’re in a hard place, a confusing place, or a place that doesn’t look promising. Maybe you’ve been tempted to believe that the difficulty means God isn’t there.
Don’t confuse a hard place with hopelessness. Don’t assume that dry ground means God is finished with you in that place.
Sometimes the hard places can become holy places — if you’re willing to trust God. That’s where faith is forged, as you discover God’s faithfulness.
So, if you find yourself in the middle of a hard place, maybe the best thing you can do is ask the Lord to help you see Him, in the midst of that place. Maybe pray:
— Lord, help me see You in this dry season; in this hard assignment.
— Help me see You when nothing looks promising.
Because faith (in a hard place), begins when we learn to see God’s presence in the midst of it.
So before you run from it, ask God to reveal Himself. Because He’s already there.
Well, the second challenge is this:
2. LISTEN TO GOD ABOVE THE VOICE OF FEAR.
When the famine came, Isaac had a decision to make. The famine he faced raised (at least two) practical questions in his mind: 1) What should he do, and 2) Where should he go?
His first thought was to pack up everything and head to Egypt. But, in that moment, God spoke up.
Genesis 26:2 actually says,
“And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.’” — Genesis 26:2 (NIV)
From a human perspective, Egypt made a lot of sense. It was connected to the Nile River, which meant it had water, food, and resources — even when surrounding lands were suffering. So when famine hit, Egypt looked practical and even responsible.
It seemed like a good idea. But it wasn’t God’s idea.
In fact, God said,
“Do not go down to Egypt.”
That had to be challenging for Isaac because many years earlier, during another famine, his father Abraham had gone down to Egypt. And it helped. His family found food and provision there. So for Isaac, Egypt wasn’t only practical; it was familiar.
But Isaac needed more than a familiar pattern. He needed a fresh word from the Lord.
What God asked of Abraham (in one season), wasn’t what God asked of Isaac (in another).
For Abraham, faith meant going. For Isaac, faith meant staying. The issue wasn’t really about going or staying. The issue was trust and obedience. And Gods idea for Isaac was to stay! And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have one GOD idea than a hundred GOOD ideas.
Some of you may be familiar with the words of God found in Isaiah 55:8-9. It’s where God says:
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God wanted Isaac to learn that His way was better. Because, what God could provide for him in Gerar was better than anything Isaac could find for himself in Egypt.
God was teaching Isaac not to make decisions based on fear, scarcity, or even familiarity. So again, God said,
“Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.”
That’s such a powerful promise. God didn’t simply say, “I will bless you.” He said, “Stay here, and I will bless you here.”
The test wasn’t whether Isaac believed God could bless him somewhere. The test was whether Isaac believed God could bless him RIGHT THERE — in that land, at that time, in the middle of that famine.
And that’s the question for you and me as well: Do you really believe God is able to provide for you right where you are — in the middle of your difficulty, uncertainty, and hardship? Because there’s always an Egypt somewhere. There’s always an easier option, a quicker solution, or a place that looks more promising than the one we’re in.
But not every open door is God’s direction. Not every opportunity is God’s will. Not every good idea is a God idea.
- Fear will tell you, “You need to run!”
- Scarcity will tell you, “You’ll never have enough.”
- Familiarity will tell you, “Just do what worked last time.”
- But faith will challenge you to listen for God’s voice — above all the rest.
Isaac needed more than an option. He needed a word from the Lord.
And that’s true for us as well. When life becomes difficult, our greatest need isn’t always a change of scenery. Our greatest need is a clear word from God. We need His wisdom. We need His direction. And we need His promise to become louder than our fear.
That’s why we must look to the Word of God. God hasn’t left us guessing. He’s spoken. He’s given us His truth. And along with His Word, He’s given us the Holy Spirit, who abides in us, speaks to us, and leads us.
So before you make a move, make space to hear from God. Open His Word. Pray for wisdom. Seek godly counsel. Ask yourself honestly, “Is this fear leading me, or is this faith obeying God?”
Refuse to let the pressure of your circumstances choose your path for you.
— Never allow fear to lead you somewhere God hasn’t sent you.
And when God speaks, obey what He says. Because His voice carries His promise. And whatever God promises, God is faithful to perform.
Well, the final challenge is this:
3. SOW WHERE GOD HAS PLACED YOU.
Genesis 26:12 says,
“And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him.”
That phrase, “in that land,” is worth holding onto. Isaac didn’t sow in Egypt. He didn’t wait for conditions to improve. He didn’t wait for the famine to lift. He didn’t wait for the ground to look better.
He sowed in the land where God told him to stay. He didn’t simply remain in the land. He sowed in it. And that’s faith.
There’s a difference between staying and sowing. Some people stay physically while quitting spiritually. They remain in the place, but they stop living. They’re still present, but their faith has gone silent. But Isaac did more than remain. Isaac sowed.
He put seed into ground that didn’t look like it could produce. And he did it because his confidence wasn’t in the condition of the soil. His confidence was in the faithfulness of God.
That’s what faith does. Faith acts on what God says, not on what your circumstances look like.
That’s why faith — and obedience to God’s Word, sometimes feels like putting seed into dry ground.
- You may pray, and nothing seems to change.
- You my serve, and it feels like no one notices.
- You may give, and it feels hard and seems costly.
- But faith keeps sowing because faith sees beyond this present moment.
Faith sees that the harvest doesn’t depend on the condition of the soil, but on the blessing of the Lord.
Notice again, verse 12 says,
“The Lord blessed him.”
And that’s the key. Isaac sowed, but God supplied the increase. Isaac put the seed in the ground, but God put His blessing on the seed. That’s still how faith works. Our responsibility is faithfulness. God’s responsibility is fruitfulness. We do what He’s placed in our hands, and we trust Him with what only He can do.
So don’t let the dryness of the ground convince you that God is finished with the place He assigned you. If God placed you there, sow there.
— Don’t merely occupy the place. Cultivate it.
— Don’t simply remain there. Sow there with faith.
Put into the ground what God has placed in your hand, and trust Him with the harvest. Keep praying and serving and giving and believing and obeying. Because faithfulness today may become fruitfulness tomorrow!
Understand, there’s no famine strong enough to cancel the promises of God. There’s no dry season powerful enough to overthrow His faithfulness. There’s no barren ground beyond the reach of His blessing.
So, sow where God has placed you — that’s what “choosing faith” looks like!
CONCLUSION
Genesis 26 begins with famine—but it doesn’t end there. That’s Isaac’s story. And it can be yours too!
— So look for God in the hard place.
— Listen to God above the voice of fear.
— And sow where God has placed you.
And if God can bring harvest from Isaac’s dry ground, He can be trusted with yours too!
CLOSING PRAYER
Before we close, let me say this: we’ve talked today about faith, God’s presence, God’s promise, and God’s faithfulness. But the first step of faith is surrendering your life to Jesus. If you’ve never done that, or if you need to make things right with God, I invite you to pray with me:
Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned and chosen my way over Yours. Today, I turn from my sin and put my faith in Jesus. I believe He is the Son of God, that He died for my sins and rose again. Forgive me. Save me. Make me new. Let Your Spirit live in me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
If you just prayed that prayer — I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! That’s the greatest decision you’ll ever make.
And now, for the rest of us…let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, we need You. Teach us to see what You see. When life feels dry, uncertain, or unpromising, help us not to be ruled by fear. Help us to recognize Your presence in the hard place. Help us to hear Your promise above every other voice. Give us the courage to obey You, even when other options look easier. And give us the faith to sow where You have placed us, trusting that You are able to bring fruit from dry ground. Remind us today that famine is not final, that Your Word is true, and that Your faithfulness is greater than every season we face. In Jesus’ name, amen.