“The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.”” — Genesis 26:2-3

Each week in synagogue or at home, Jews read through the Torah from Genesis to Deuteronomy. The Torah portion for this week is Toldot, which means “offspring,” from Genesis 25:19—28:9

When the coronavirus crisis first began, I did not know what to expect and worried about how it might impact our work at The Fellowship. We consulted with professionals who warned us that we could see a significant decline in support for our lifesaving projects. But, praise God, that is not at all what happened.

Our amazing partners stepped up and continued to donate what they could in order to help Jews in need get through the crisis. Not only did we meet our budget, we exceeded it. This allowed us to provide even more aid during this critical time, and once again proved that with God’s help and good people, we can prosper in even the most difficult situations.

In this week’s Torah reading, we learn that Isaac and Rebekah faced a serious famine in the land of Canaan. However, unlike Abraham and Sarah who found relief from famine by relocating temporarily to Egypt, God told Isaac to stay put in the Holy Land. God promised to prosper Isaac despite the famine. He told Isaac, “Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you…”

True to His word, God did bless Isaac. Isaac planted crops in the arid land and reaped a hundredfold that very same year (Genesis 26:12-13). Even though the conditions in the land made it nearly impossible to grow crops, Isaac prospered and enjoyed abundance, demonstrating that success is not determined by the conditions around us, but by God’s blessings. 

This is such an important lesson for us to keep in mind, especially when we face challenging times. We can easily be discouraged when we hear a negative report and worry about our future when life seems so uncertain. However, we need to remember that our provisions come from God and God alone. He can prosper us in a desert and cause us to bear fruit during a famine. We need to place our trust exclusively in Him. In His name we prosper and by His word we are blessed.

Your turn: Give thanks to God for all of the blessings that He has given you and express your faith in Him to continue blessing you and providing for all your needs.