Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham's time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. – Genesis 26:1

Today's Scripture Reading (October 7, 2024): Genesis 26

Canadian poet Edmund Vance Cooke (1866-1932), in the early years of the twentieth century, wrote;

This life's a hollow bubble, Don't you know?
Just a painted piece of trouble, Don't you know?
We come to earth to cry,
We grow older and we sigh,
Older still, and then we die!
Don't you know?

The words were not encouraging, but this was also not an encouraging time. Our world was hovering on the edge of disagreement. The words were first published in 1922, but it seems likely that the thoughts were put down either during or even just before the War to End all Wars, World War I. Life seemed to be nothing more than a "hollow bubble," which was often fleeting and challenging. It seems likely that Cooke's poem was the basis for a more common contemporary saying. "Life is hard, and then you die."

But it is also a truth that we know from experience. Life is filled with difficulties. None of us are promised an easy life, regardless of how much we think we want or deserve it. To be brutally honest, I am not sure we really want a life without challenges. I know that I don't. Sometimes, it is the challenges that make life worth living. Life is hard, but where would we be if the thrill of victory was easy?

Genesis says that there was a famine in the land—another famine. While Israel lies in the Fertile Crescent, a boomerang-shaped area that extends from Upper Egypt up through the coastal region of the Eastern Mediterranean and then through to the Persian Gulf, it is also a land that has suffered its share of droughts with its accompanying times of famine.

Genesis reminds us that there was a famine in the days of Abraham. And now, there is another in the days of Isaac. Isaac begins to follow the same path his father Abraham followed during the days of the earlier famine, which included heading down through Gerar to meet with Abimelek, King of the Philistines.

The famine, as well as the challenge and the struggle that the famine represented, was not an indication that God's hand was not on Isaac. God had promised the land to Abraham and his descendants, but he did not promise that the lives of Abraham or Isaac would be absent of struggle. The famine in the life of Isaac and the battle that exists in our own lives are just part of what it means to be alive. In some ways, it should be received as a gift. Struggle can only overwhelm us if we forget that God is still on the throne and he is still in control. And his love for us means that Abraham, Isaac, and the contemporary inhabitants of this hollow bubble are secure. We hold fast to the belief that life is hard; it always has been. But then, we don't just die. We get promoted, don't you know? 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 27