Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death (2 Samuel 21:1-2).
Have you ever thought you solved a problem only to discover you created another? We have all been there. I enjoy finding creative solutions to stubborn problems. But sometimes I outsmart myself, and my “solution” leads to a costly do-over!
In 2 Samuel 21, David faced a three-year famine. Instead of crafting a creative solution, he sought the Lord. The passage implies that he didn’t ask, “What should I do?” but “Why does this keep happening?”
That distinction matters.
When churches experience a kind of “famine”—declining attendance, limited resources, conflict, or lack of conversions—we often reach for programs and strategies. But if a deeper issue is at work, those solutions may miss the real problem—or even work against what God intends to address.
David’s example offers several important lessons:
- When David sought the “presence of the Lord,” He did not ask a “what” question, as in, “What should I do?” Instead, he asked a “why” question, as in, “Why have You allowed this famine to come upon us?”
- We also learn that God will not hide issues He has with us. He wants us to know! And He will readily answer as He did in David’s case.
- The root issue may have been in the past. David’s crisis stemmed not from his own actions, but from Saul’s unresolved sin. Ministry struggles can also trace back to unaddressed wounds or failures that still need repentance and reconciliation.
- Once church leaders get an answer to the “why” question, the answer to the “what” question becomes obvious. The rest of 2 Samuel 21 demonstrates how naturally a solution arose once Divine insight was granted.
Church leaders tend to “seek the presence of the Lord” during a ministry famine or crisis. However, we usually seek Him for a solution to our dilemma. We come with the assumption that we need to fix something. But what if we are trying to fix the wrong things in the wrong ways?
If we apply solutions that do not take into consideration the possibility that God may have sent the famine, we may be in for a costly do-over. Like fixing a crack in a dam with duct tape, we set ourselves up for more trouble down the road.
For some, the idea that God might be behind a spiritual famine feels incompatible with His grace. But God is not one-dimensional. His grace and His holiness operate together.
If there are unhealed wounds and unconfessed sin in the history of a church, should we expect Him to overlook what requires repentance?
Unless we stop outsmarting ourselves with man-made solutions when God is addressing deeper issues, our ministries may never regain their fruitfulness. Some have remained in famine for decades. Others have disappeared altogether.
It took David three years to seek the Lord about his famine.
Church leader, how long will it take you?
Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries which works to heal ministries with painful histories. Learn more at blessingpoint.org.