Lessons Can Be Learned Through Trials if We Seek Him (Jesus)

2 Samuel 21:1---Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered It is for Saul, and for his bloody house because he slew the Gibeonites.

When the weather conditions were severe so that they suffered a lack of food, David sought the face of the LORD. He did not think it was just cycles. He did not consider it coincidence or natural phenomenon. He looked to God for the reason behind this "natural" problem. When we seek, we will find. God spoke to David. We do not know how. It may have been audible, or it may have been in his heart. It could have been through one of the prophets. The answer was that the land was experiencing the judgment of God for something that had happened years earlier. Saul had violated the ancient covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites. Pretending they had come from a far-off country, they had tricked Israel into a peace treaty. Nevertheless, the covenant was made. Saul made war on them, breaking this ancient treaty. There are times in life when we face the consequences of another's actions. It is not always clear why there are problems, but it could be God balancing the books. If we seek the face of the LORD, He may show us some way to rectify the imbalance so that God can justly bless the land again with rain. Often it will be something in our own life. It may be an apology that needs to be made or forgiveness that needs to be granted.