Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem-judah when famine came to the land. “I don’t get it,” you say. “How could a famine inflict the House of Bread, the Place of Praise?”

In 2 Chronicles 7, God told His people that if they turned from Him and began to serve other gods, He would send famine to their land. Evidently that is what happened here. Oh, it might have been subtle, even imperceptible at first, but there was nonetheless a turning away from the Lord. The result? Dry times.

Amos wrote about a famine not of food, but of hearing the Word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Maybe you can relate to that. Perhaps you no longer feel like you’re hearing from God or are in communion with God. There was a time when every time you opened the Word, God seemed to speak to you. There was a time when coming to Bible study was the most exciting thing for you. But not now. There is famine in your land. The days are dry, dreary, and difficult.

Precious people, I don’t care who you are or how close to God you might be; you can bet your bottom dollar that there will come into your walk seasons of dryness and times of difficulty. The question is not whether times of famine will come. The question is: Where will you go when they do?

Second Chronicles 7 teaches that the cure for famine is to remain where you are and call upon God. But Elimelech and his family went to Moab instead.

This is a fundamental mistake we often make. In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord declared that He would go with us through the fire (Isaiah 43:2). But so often we want to avoid the fire. We want to change our circumstances. We want to run from the difficulties.

So, when famine came, Elimelech, upon the prodding of his wife Naomi, decided that instead of praying it through and remaining in the land until God graciously blessed again, they would make a move, a short sojourn in Moab, where they heard there was plenty of food and an abundance of water. It seemed to be the chance of a lifetime. In reality, it was a death march toward the grave.