Bill Johnson - Response During Challenging Times
This is a unique way to bring the Word to you. It’s a great privilege to do so, and I’m thankful for technology, which makes up for all the things we couldn’t do in the past. We get to touch many homes this way, and I’m really glad. Several years ago, I was doing a study and noticed there were unusual responses to trials, famines, and difficulties in the Word. I began this study quite a few years ago, and since the whole virus issue came up, these things have come to mind because what I want for me and for us is to learn how to respond biblically to a crisis that arises. What are the different ways the people of God in history have dealt with famines, plagues, and pestilences?
The number one response we are to have is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: «If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways, seek my face, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.» Always, when difficulties arise, it reminds us to refine our focus and ensure that we’re standing on solid ground, that our attitudes, behavior, and relationships are truly in divine order. The unusual approach I want to discuss involves three famines in the Bible, highlighting the unique responses of different people of God throughout history. The first one is in Genesis 26, and if you have your Bibles with you, which I hope you do, whether at home or somewhere else, I want you to open to Genesis 26 to see the most unusual response to a famine by one of our heroes of faith: Isaac.
I want to begin with verse one, which states, «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.» The first phrase indicates there was a famine in the land. Then we jump to verse 12, which says, «Then Isaac sowed in the land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him.» The man began to prosper, continued prospering, until he became very prosperous. I love that verse; it seems God really wanted us to understand what took place here. It says he began to prosper, continued prospering, until he became very prosperous. The point is, verse 1 states there was a famine in the land, while verse 12 says Isaac sowed in the land during that famine. It’s an odd time to plant crops.
Generally, when we talk about sowing and reaping in the church, we are discussing giving; this technically is not a giving passage. It’s a good principle, but that’s not what’s at stake here. Isaac was investing in his future. This is a business decision—he has crops, livestock, and this is his future. He is investing in his own future. What’s unusual is that at a time when crops aren’t being harvested and financial progress isn’t being made by typical people, farms, or ranches, he sows into the land and reaps a hundredfold—one hundred times what a normal harvest would be. That’s extraordinary—it’s a supernatural harvest! What is this all about? The fact is that Isaac was intentional in sowing into his own future, making decisions that would otherwise seem foolish. It would be normal to want to eat the seed, but instead, he planted the seed.
I remember a missionary friend from many years ago sent out a newsletter, and I, of course, was a recipient of that newsletter. He made this comment: he said, «For the first time in my life, I understand what it means in the Bible when it says to sow in tears and to reap in joy—sow in tears, reap in joy.» He began to describe missionaries in Africa—specifically, mothers who would have children strapped to their backs. They would take the seed they were hungry to eat, but instead, they chose to plant it in the ground. While they were planting the seed, they cried. They knew that if they consumed it now, it would only feed them once, but if they planted it, it could provide meals for an entire season. So, there was that challenging decision.
In this particular case, I want to encourage every business owner, every employee, and every person listening to this broadcast to take the Isaac approach to this virus, to the shutdown of businesses, and to all the crazy things going on. This is an opportunity for us to truly sow into our own future. We come with hope; we have a reason to hope—His name is Jesus. He has conquered every enemy and causes everything to work for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. That’s you, and that’s me.
For some of you, it may mean taking an online course or buying a book and reading it during the shutdown time, perhaps learning better ways to advertise or whatever it may be. The point is that we are all making proactive decisions about our futures, anticipating breakthroughs. We are positioning ourselves for breakthroughs, and we are even sacrificing because we believe that God is breathing on that offering. I want to encourage you; I believe this is a time for us to show great courage and great faith. It’s not a time to be foolish or careless, but it is a time to be intentional so that we give God something to breathe on—to cause it to abound and prosper.
This is not a generosity verse; it is a verse about investing in our own futures. The second story is quite unusual, in some ways even more unusual than the first, and it is found in Nehemiah chapter 5. If you would turn to that, I would love for you to see this one. There’s a bit more detail involved here. What’s happening is there’s a famine, and the people of Israel are running out of money. They have no crops to harvest, and they are in big trouble. They are selling their lands to others, in this case, other Jews. The point is that these lands were the permanent inheritance of individual families. When they inherited that land, it was marked for them, meant to be theirs and their family’s from that point on. So, when they sold their land, they were selling something that God had given to them, putting them in a very difficult situation.
I want you to look at this in the NIV, and we’re going to start in verse 2. We have several verses to read, so follow along: «There were those who said, 'We, our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live.' There were also some who said, 'We’ve mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine.' There were also those who said, 'We’ve borrowed money for the king’s tax on our lands and vineyards, yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. Indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. Some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.'»
When I heard their outcry and these words, I became very angry. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and said to them, «Each of you is exacting usury—interest—from his brother.» So, I called a great assembly against them. Let me explain this situation: when Nehemiah examines the situation, he hears the cries of the people who say, «We’re starving to death; we can’t eat. We’ve had to sell our own children into slavery,» which is just unthinkable. Nehemiah sees the root of the issue: brothers were buying brothers' lands and placing heavy interest on any payments to be made, leading them to lose their ability to buy food. He rebukes them and restores them to a place of family and national covenant.
Here’s the point: this is a time when many of us are being forced to stay in our own homes; for example, we are confined, quarantined to our own homes. The point is that this is the time to renew and restore relationships—family first, the body of Christ, the people of God. It’s not a time to take advantage of someone’s difficulties. This is the moment to use the opportunity for personal gain to accommodate people who are in pain, suffering, or experiencing loss or a reduction in wages. Whatever it might be, we should do whatever we can to stand as a family and provide biblical support, love, and financial assistance wherever possible.
I’m reminded in Acts chapters 2 through 5, where the church experienced a great revival; they began to sell their lands and engage in various acts of generosity, ensuring that nobody among them lacked anything, that nobody was poor. It wasn’t a mandate from the top; it was something that erupted within them. That’s important; it’s not a governmental decision for everyone to have the same; it was an internal decision that said, «I care for my brother, I care for my sister. I want to ensure that they are provided for, that they have food to eat, and that they have shelter to live in.»
This is a time right now, in a time of crisis, for us not to withdraw and become preoccupied with our own needs and circumstances. Instead, it’s an opportunity for us to aggressively pursue those who we know might be in trouble. Maybe they are facing financial or medical crises—whatever it is, the point is that we turn our attention towards the people of God and rally to their cause. You may have neighbors or friends—we’ve encouraged people to call the senior citizens around them, those who may not be able to go out and get groceries. Many of our teams are doing that right now, calling their neighbors and friends, as well as our church membership, to find out where the needs might be.
The point is that this is a moment where, instead of reacting to the fear of the day, which is running rampant, we refine our focus on our practical, simple devotion to Christ and His people. I want my love for God to be seen and measured by my love for people. In this unusual story, the famine occurred, but we never hear it spoken of again; it’s as though their compassion for each other and their devotion to one another silenced the voice of that storm and the cry of that famine.
The last story I want to share is in Acts chapter 11. This is, of course, from the New Testament, and it’s an interesting story for many reasons. Once again, a famine was coming to devour people. In Acts 11, let’s start with verse 27. It says, «And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.» Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. I love this particular story for several reasons, but my favorite part is that when they heard a famine was coming—remember, it says it would affect the whole world—they realized the coming famine would impact their lives too.
The first thing they did is remarkable; they took an offering. That’s the last thing so many people would ever think to do. Usually, in times of crisis, people retreat and do whatever they can to survive. Instead, in this passage, they moved aggressively to receive an offering and send it to the brethren of Judea. They did this according to their ability, so there was no manipulation, there was no coercion, and they didn’t have to relinquish their goods reluctantly. There was this overwhelming thankfulness for God’s promises, and they decided to plant a seed. The first story we read is about Isaac, who sowed seeds; it wasn’t just generosity, but he was sowing into his own future and his own business.
It’s important that the second concept was covenant or relationship; just sow into that and ensure there was health there. However, this last point actually pertains to money itself. They took an offering and gave it to the brethren in Judea. This means a lot of things; it could be an act of compassion. I’ve heard people say that the brethren in Judea were in great financial crisis, and if that’s the case, this was obviously a very noble thing to do—receiving an offering. But I would like to suggest to you that there might be just a little bit more to the story than that. Judea is where the ministers of the gospel came from to Antioch, to bring the gospel to the people in this audience. If you will, the people of this body of believers were converted because someone came from Judea and brought the good news to them.
I would like to suggest that, yes, this is probably a gift of compassion, but even more so, it was a gift of honor—a gift of honor that, while the famine happened, we never hear spoken of again. It silenced the appetite, dulled the teeth, and muted the voice of the famine that was going to affect so many lives. It’s never mentioned again. There’s something profound about generosity in times of personal need. Here, when we’ve faced various financial crises and challenges, that’s when I’ve gone into our finance department’s office and said, «I need you to write a check for such-and-such a church in town. They aren’t able to pave their parking lot, and we’ll aggressively pursue that right now.» We had a guest who was supposed to speak to us this week, or if not this week, next week. Itinerant ministers have had all their travel shut down, so last week, we sent this friend of ours, an itinerant minister, the honorarium as though he had spoken here.
We wanted to honor him and thank him for his ministry and devotion to us through the years. We’ve done this repeatedly when individuals have been unable to attend a conference where they were a guest, due to a medical report indicating they were not to travel during that season. We just write out a check and send them the honorarium. I received a text this morning from one of our staff members, who are using cash apps to pay the beautician who had to cancel an appointment for his wife’s hair, but they’re compensating her as though the appointment had taken place, and they’re doing the same for the gym trainer. The point is that this is the moment to aggressively sow into people’s lives to display honor, because I refuse to bow at the threat of this famine. I refuse to submit to this thing; instead, I’m going to act generously to take the bite out of this situation, and I believe we are going to see a quick end to this virus.
I want to be found carrying the heart of the Lord as this situation comes to a close. I want to be found in a place of radical obedience to the Lord, where we care about people’s souls and well-being, serving them to the best of our abilities. Personally, I’ve found that being shut in at the house, except for moments like this, is a tremendous opportunity to walk around my home or property and pray, intercede, and lift up praise to the Lord, while also praying for my neighbors, reaching out to people, and making phone calls to do all we can. It’s the generosity of soul; it’s buying gift cards. I sent a text to a restaurant owner yesterday to buy gift cards to help support their ongoing business. We want our city to achieve the impossible in this moment; we want your city to thrive in the face of loss instead of going backward. I want to see us advance, and I believe that together, as the people of God, this is the moment to advance. This advancement now is a miracle, and that’s what advancements are supposed to be.
I just want to declare this to you, teach you, first of all, from the word three different unusual responses to famine or loss, but also to challenge us as a church family to stand with resolve and have that devotion of commitment. Let me go over the three things: invest in our own personal advancement in business; perhaps you’re a counselor or whatever. The point is that you sow into your own personal development because you believe you have a future and a hope. Secondly, reaffirm covenant or relationships; reaffirm the devotion to the people of God, the household of faith, but also to this city. Thirdly, is this thing of generosity. I believe that the seeds of generosity in times like this so attract God into an environment, ushering in prosperity and bringing increase. That’s what we’re doing here; we have a number of staff, but obviously, they can’t come with a huge staff, so we’re directing their attention toward our city, neighbors, and members of our family. I believe that the Lord is honoring that approach to generosity. I want to encourage you to do the same thing.
I want to pray for you because the prayer that I have prayed more than any other five things combined in the last five years is for the spirit of breakthrough. God identifies Himself in David’s life as the God of the breakthrough; Baal-perazim was the name, the God of the breakthrough. When there is an obstacle, He breaks through it. When there is a season of difficulty, He breaks through and brings increase. He is the God of answers and solutions, regardless of the problem. I want to pray because I believe it’s going to be a breakthrough season, not just for the church but also for individuals. I think that every person I know, I’ve been prayerfully meditating on a particular verse.
I invite you to join me in discovering the depth and richness of this verse, John 15:7, where it says, «If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.» We all like outcomes; we like the answer to prayer. We enjoy graduation, the purchase of a home, and moving in. We like those kinds of things; we enjoy the conclusion. But God values the journey. He likes the process of saying, «Abide in Me, and let My words abide in you.» So what I’ve chosen to do for my own journey in this season is to turn my attention to learning one verse better—not just to quote it, as I have been able to do for years—but to live it fully. What does it mean to abide in Christ? What does it mean to have a continuous, ongoing, affectionate relationship with Him? What does it mean to stay connected to the presence of God, seeking His face in an ongoing way? What does that look like? What would it look like for me to carry the awareness that the Spirit of God is in me and resting upon me? What does it mean to be deeply connected to the heart and mind of God, abiding in Him?
Then He says that My words would abide in you. As we read His word, something stands out; in this case, the whole idea of an offering during a time of famine stands out to me. It’s been on my mind for four years. What does it look like to face an external problem? What does it look like to act in the opposite spirit, and then for God to bring a breakthrough? What does that look like? So we carry these words in our hearts. You may have a different word; there may be something the Lord spoke to you about your family. Maybe it’s a personal promise regarding something He will do, and this may appear to be the most impossible season for that to happen. Well, guess what? It’s the most likely season for the breakthrough to come because He is the God who specializes in impossibilities.
I’m going to ask you to join me in abiding in God, in this affectionate love for Him continuously, where His Word allows me, at the drop of a hat and in any moment, to quote and declare, «This is what God is saying to me in this season.» I want to monitor those two parts of my life and let Him oversee my prayer life, where breakthroughs happen.
So, Father, I’m praying right now for the entire Bella family, our Bethel community around the world, and our guests and friends who have joined us. Let this be the season where we see a spirit of breakthrough, where a mantle and outpouring of anointing for breakthrough come upon every individual and household. God, I pray this for our city and for the cities represented—that a mantle would turn the most impossible situations and reverse them for the glory of God. Let this be the hour where You receive the glory for every turning that takes place in our cities and our nation. God, we pray for America, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, and all these countries around the world that are joining with us right now. May there be a turning and a tremendous deliverance from what the enemy has turned against us, replaced instead with mighty deliverance and healing in household after household. God, instead of retreating in fear, I pray that You would release the mantle for health and healing upon the people of God, that we would aggressively stand on behalf of our neighbors and friends to see healing and deliverance in the name of Jesus. God, I pray for every businessperson watching that You would defend them and promote them in their business, that their online success would more than compensate for what is not coming through the door due to closures. Grant wisdom for how to maneuver in this season, which is different from every past season. Help us to know how to invest in our future in a biblical manner, showing us where we need to fortify our strength with one another in our families and church family, and where generosity looks like in this season. I pray all of this so that the name of Jesus would be exalted and held in the highest honor. Amen.
Please, I’ve been carrying this in my heart for days. In fact, Chris was supposed to get up today, but he kindly stepped aside so I could share what is on my heart. I feel like this is a prophetic template that will likely be applied differently for every household. It’s a prophetic template for how we face the threat of loss and challenging situations. So, I encourage you to review these things and pray over them. The last thing I want to do is acknowledge that with such a large online audience, there’s always the opportunity for people who have never made a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest miracle of all is the salvation of the soul.
Jesus tugged on my heart, showed me His love, called me to Himself, and I said yes. I called upon the name of the Lord, and He saved me, forgave my sin, delivered me from my past, and made it possible for me to walk with Him. That offering, that gift of salvation, is available to every person watching this broadcast who may not have a personal relationship with Jesus. My goodness, if there was ever a time it should be obvious that we need a Savior, a Deliverer, a Father who works on our behalf, it’s right now. I want to encourage you, but it does cost something. It doesn’t cost you dollars; it costs your life. It requires that we turn from our life of sin and self-serving to become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m going to ask you to pray with me right now. Just say these words with me:
Father, I come to You. I come to You as a sinner in need of forgiveness. I ask You to forgive me of all sin. I turn from them; I will not serve any other God but Jesus. I will not follow any other lifestyle but the lifestyle of Jesus. I ask that You fill me now with Your Holy Spirit and make it possible for me to live as a representative of Jesus on the earth. I ask this for the honor of the name Jesus. Amen.