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Pastor Frank Damazio

Introduction: Today’s message is truly a message that will cause the natural mind to react or to simply say,

“Unreasonable. It doesn’t make any sense at all.” If you are in a place of lack or scarcity, why would you sow

anything? Your circumstances may appear hopeless to the natural eye and the thought of sowing may seem like

a waste to you and those around you, but understand that God delights to bring forth a blessing in the middle of

famine for those who will step up and sow against the lack. The tendency of the natural mind is to withhold or

withdraw in difficult times. Sowing seed in times of famine takes great faith in God because all the odds are

against you. You have to believe God is Lord of the harvest.

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I. Time to Step Up and Face the Famine Genesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of

Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

A. Face the Famine by a God-Encounter Genesis 26:2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the

land of which I shall tell you.”

1. The Lord desires to appear to you in a way that you will be visited by God with a

God visitation that clears your mind and clears your spirit.

2. Appeared (Heb): showed or revealed himself. Abraham received a revelation of

God and from God, heard the voice of the Lord and responded in obedience.

(same word that is used for seers or prophets in the OT).

3. God said: The Lord desires to speak to you and build your spirit around His word

to you. God’s promises are built on God’s word coming to you personally. God

seeks to speak to you.

B. Face the Famine by Positioning Yourself for Blessing Gen 26:3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your

descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your

father.

1. An arrangement or placement of one or more persons or things.

2. You must position yourself in the direction that you want to go. You cannot put

your car in reverse and expect to move forward. If you want harvest from seed

you sow, you must continue on the pathway of giving.

3. The location principle: God is very particular about the location. During a famine

you must be in the right place for God to provide and do His work. Location is the

will of God for you. Do not, under pressure, move out from God’s placement of

your life. Isaac was not to change locations and go to Egypt.

C. Face the Famine by Seeing Your God-Given Future Genesis 26:4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to

your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

1. I will make your future greater than you can imagine. …and I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven…

2. I will provide for your future everything you need. … I will give to your descendants all these lands …

• J. Oswald Sanders: “Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as

present and the invisible as seen.”

3. I will bless you so you can be a blessing. …in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed …

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II. Time to Step Up and Sow Seed Genesis 26:12 …And Isaac sowed in the land…

� George Mueller: “I took one shilling out of my box in my house. This was all our

money… So I gave it. I needed to feed over 100 people. I sowed my last seed and

then prayed and by faith believed the seed would produce. We fed all the people with

the blessing pouring in.

A. Sow the Seed of Finances 2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who

sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

1. The giving of our finances is just like the sowing of our seed. Just as there are

laws that govern crops and harvest, there are laws that govern financial seed

sowing and financial harvest. Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and

summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

2. The giving of our finances and seed means that we expect something to happen

with the seed sown. If you have seen a steady stream of small financial harvest

and are ready for a large financial harvest then you need to sow a stream of large

financial seeds Mark 4:28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the

full grain in the head.

B. Sow the Seed Given to Us by God 2 Corinthians 9:10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply

and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

1. God puts money into our hands for two reasons: bread for food (daily necessities)

and seed to sow (excess money to invest in His kingdom). Don’t eat all your seed!

2. God will bless our seed but we do have to sow the seed. If you want apple pie on

Sunday evening, you wouldn’t plant an apple seed on Sunday morning! Sow all

the time. In good and bad times, sow!

C. Sow the Seed in Time of Famine

Sowing: to plant a seed for growth, to set something in motion, to introduce into a

selected environment.

1. Sowing seed in a place where the earth is exhausted and refuses to produce crops

is an action that is counter-intuitive. Psalm 37:19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they

shall be satisfied.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His

faithfulness.

2. Sowing seed in a hard place begins with hearing the voice of God and a spirit of

faith comes with God’s voice.

III. Genesis 26:2-3 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live

in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless

you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath

which I swore to Abraham your father.

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3. Sowing seed in hard times takes a faith that believes what God has promised God

is able to fulfill.

4. Sowing seed takes a bold step to do something that others won’t do and strong

enough to stand against all resistance. Become a person who refuses to participate

in recession. Do not let the recession into your spirit. Reject the recession spirit

and embrace a God-perspective on your life. Famine for us means “sow.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the

clouds will not reap.

a. You can keep your seed in your barn and not sow it.

b. You can eat your seed and enjoy it once.

c. You can sow your seed in the wrong place.

d. You can plant your seed in the right place, water it, pray over it, and see the

increase.

D. Seed Sowing Scriptures

1. Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

2. Zechariah 8:12 ‘For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the

ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew— I will cause

the remnant of this people to possess all these.

3. Isaiah 30:23 Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the

ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that

day your cattle will feed in large pastures.

4. 2 Cor 9:10 may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply

and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

5. Ezekiel 17:5 Then he took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a fertile

field; He placed it by abundant waters and set it like a willow tree.

6. Proverbs 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also

be watered himself.

7. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,

that he will also reap.

8. Psalm 126:6 He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing,

shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

9. 2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter

gets a lavish crop. (Msg)

10. Amos 9:13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman

shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The

mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

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III. Time to Step Up and Flourish Gen 26:13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous

A. Famine is a God-Time to Flourish 1. Time for believers to be repositioned.

2. Time of breaking away from old habits and systems.

3. Time of sowing and believing in our future.

4. Time of giving as our response to lack.

B. Step Up and Flourish Flourish: to thrive, grow luxuriantly and vigorously, increase, enlarge, be prosperous,

increase in wealth and honor, grow in grace and good work

1. Sow and reap a miracle harvest Gen 26:13 …Isaac sowed in the land and reaped in one year a hundred fold…

2. Receive the blessing of the Lord Gen 26:13 …and the Lord blessed him…

3. Begin to prosper

IV. Gen 26:13 The man began to prosper…

4. Continue to prosper

V. Gen 26:13 …and continued to prosper…

5. Become very prosperous

VI. Gen 26:13 …and became very prosperous…

6. Dig again the wells Genesis 26:18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of

Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham.

He called them by the names which his father had called them.

C. Step Up and Give My Seed Zech 8:12 For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give

her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew—I will cause the remnant of this people to

possess all these.

Isaiah 30:23 Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and

bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed

in large pastures.

1. Giving is the seeding for my miracle, from which God my source will multiply

and I must be ready to receive. You will reap more than you sow. God will return

to you in multiplied form.

2. Giving is the planting of my seed, believing God will move my mountain.

3. Giving is sowing my seed by faith, knowing that I have to sow before I can reap

and that I will reap from what I sow, and I will reap more than I sow. I must

scatter my seed with handfuls. (Seed sown will establish your harvest size. You

always sow to your harvest size, not from your harvest size.)

4. Giving is recognizing Jesus as Lord of my seed, Lord of my harvest, Lord of my

field, and Lord of my future. According to scripture, there is no substitute for seed

and the sowing of it. Everything comes from a seed that has been planted.

5. Giving is sowing my financial seed into fertile, good soil in a time of need, believing

the seed to work, no matter how discouraged I may be. Small beginnings or

insignificant status – even though the growth is imperceptible, it is constant,

inevitable and slow but sure. It will break forth and I will reap my miracle harvest.