Please know that the sovereign God controls the weather and that includes all extreme cases:
He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; (Psa 107:33-35)
Since God does control the weather, and that includes drought with its accompanying famine, why do droughts happen? The answer is stated in the above passage. It is because of the wickedness of those who lived there. Here is a supplementing passage:
“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. (Amos 4:7-9)
The intended purpose of God withholding rain in drought, famine, etc. is to get sinful people to return to the Lord through repentance, that is, if they are willing to turn from sin. The Bible speaks of God’s goodness leading us to repentance (Rom. 2:4), but many don’t seem to know that God’s goodness, according to various Scriptures, includes adversity and hardship through drought, etc! Remember, it wasn’t until the Prodigal Son first faced a famine before he got so low that he longed to eat hog food and got nothing from anyone. In that humbled and starving condition, he then came to his senses and repented (Luke 15:14-24)! In his case, discipline worked and reversed his spiritually lost and dead condition and brought him back to salvation again. Unfortunately that, however, is NOT always the case! Sometimes discipline doesn’t bring people back to salvation, because they refuse to repent. As we already read in Amos 4:7-9, agricultural disasters, through drought, don’t always result in sinful people returning to God. Discipline doesn’t always work! God’s goodness which leads to repentance doesn’t always work:
They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. (Jer. 32:33)
So, drought, famine, plague, etc. can actually be acts of the goodness of God humbling people to result in their salvation, if they respond. Many might find it hard to believe that such could be acts of a loving God and his goodness when a drought comes. Don’t forget that God’s ways and thoughts are not like ours (Isa. 55:8,9). Hence, we must view God, eternal life and all that is spiritual, according to Scripture. If we don’t, chances are we will be deceived. That includes the reason behind droughts and why they occur. Finally, remember this: God is infinite, assesses things in light of eternity and he places the highest value on the SOULS of men (Mark 8:36,37)! According to 1 Cor. 6:9,10, are you in a spiritual condition which shows you will NOT inherit God’s kingdom (unless you repent)?
