God who migrates us through “famine”

When I reflect on the words of the prophet Elisha to the Shunammite woman, whose son he had previously revived, “Take your family and move to another country, for the Lord has decreed a seven-year famine on Israel” (2 Kings 8:1), I am reminded that God uses "famine" to relocate His people. For example, God moved Jacob and his children and descendants to Egypt through a severe "famine" (Genesis 43:1; 46:7, 27).

Similarly, during the time of the judges, a "famine" in Judah caused Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons to leave their homeland and move to Moab (Ruth 1:1).

In the parable of the prodigal son, God brought about a "severe famine" in the distant country where the younger son, who had squandered his inheritance in wild living, was residing. This famine compelled the son to return to his father's house (Luke 15:11-20).

Based on these passages, I believe that God may still use various types of "famines" or "hardships" in our lives to bring us to a place of need and prompt us to relocate from one place to another. I think that when God moves us, He is fulfilling His plans and purposes. In other words, through "famine" (causing us to be in need), God moves us to accomplish His good, pleasing, and perfect will (Romans 12:2).