The Cycle of Feast and Famine (and Our Current Financial Woes)

Throughout history there have been cycles for all sorts of phenomena. Just as one time or season comes, another follows. We see it in nature with spring following winter, which followed autumn or fall. Fashion, an extension of our humanity, is the same. Garments that were in vogue thirty years back are now back in fashion (as fast food chains would say, for a limited time only). Everything has its time and season and reason. And it’s no different regarding our money markets.

In Genesis 41, Joseph is called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dream if you recall. Pharaoh saw seven plump and very attractive cows and then he saw seven ugly, scrawny cows. Joseph correctly interprets the dream as seven years of prosperity for Egypt that would precede seven very difficult years of famine. He advises that Pharaoh exercise great prudence and store up resources such as grain (taking a fifth of the harvest) in preparation. (It is history now that God used Joseph to lead Egypt through a very arduous time and this period was instrumental in his reconciliation with his family.)

The cycle of ‘feasting’ is sure to follow a time of famine; it is unfortunate that a painful time of recession is coming to all, but it must be endured.

So, what should we have done to prepare for this time of coming hardship? Perhaps some of the following are appropriate:

Employment: this is about having a good job that pays well and gives us job satisfaction and having held it for sufficient time to prove our worth--regarding involuntary lay-offs, there is still the last-on-first-off rule to consider. Our employment is the biggest asset during famine. It is the unemployed that truly suffer. Many who’ve treated their employers and their employment with disdain during the good times stand to suffer most--or they simply must conform. Some, unfortunately, will lose their jobs due to no fault on their behalf.

Savings: for many, this present time--and for some years now--has been a time of reaping; a suckling from a great sized cow. The amount of material prosperity that normal working-class people have enjoyed has been pleasing (but it has not come without its social problems). At this time, for those who’ve earned a lot of money, it’s hoped that they’ve had the wisdom to save for the rainy day.

Relationships: just as it holds for financial times, feast and famine also occurs in our relationships. If we don’t have enough points in our ‘relationship bank account’ (Stephen Covey) and a famine of relationship proportions hits, we stand to endure much loneliness for a time. If we’ve used our ‘riches’ to the detriment of our relationships during the feast, how loyal will those people we’ve mistreated be during the famine time?

Joseph advised Pharaoh well and he governed well too when he was put in charge. He planned for time of plenty and of not. And so can/should we. The golden truth is this: “The abundance (i.e. the good times) will not be remembered (positively), because the famine [might] be so severe.”[1] It is time to prepare.

Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

[1] Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis – A Commentary (with Cathi J. Fredricks) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), p. 532. See Genesis 41:31.