In Part 1, I wrote that hungry years can be for our long-term good. The first lesson is that they teach us to be disciplined and prioritize in our finances.

Here are two more lessons.

Second, hungry years free us for a simpler life.

Here’s a thought experiment. Would you be the same person you are now if you have unlimited funds?

Hungry years can actually save us from accumulating stuff which will then demand much time, expense and effort to maintain. For example, we are prevented from owning and driving a fancy car only to spend a lot to keep it in good running condition. Then, when we finally get back on our feet, we may realize we can live without that fancy car after all.

Hungry years can wean us away from greed, envy or extravagance. They can be a crucible where contentment, delayed gratification and financial prudence are forged deeply into our character. We stop focusing on things and start cherishing relationships.

Third, hungry years remind us of God’s faithful provision.

A Czech proverb goes: “The God who gives us teeth will also give us bread.”

God may cause us to hunger, but He will not allow us to die of hunger. Indeed, He had brought the Israelites to utterly depend on Him during their 40 years of wandering in the desert.

God is not a sadist who dangles a bone before a chained dog, never letting the dog get the bone. Rather, God responded to Israel’s hunger by giving them manna, day after unfailing day.

Hungry years are just as valuable as the satisfied years. In due time, God ended the Israelite’s wandering and brought them to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey.

If God wills, someday He will usher us into the “Promised Land” He has in store for us. We will no longer wrestle with tight budgets and gnawing need.

But until then, there are treasures to be gathered, lessons to be learned. Trusting in God’s matchless goodness, we embrace the hungry years as the necessary shadow for what promises to be a magnificent portrait.

In the meantime, why not cling to One who can satisfy our deepest needs?

Do you know that Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels? The Lord saw a harassed, hungry crowd and had compassion on them. Someone brought him five loaves of bread and two fish, which He then multiplied to feed the 5,000 men, along with an unspecified number of women and children.

The accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke say that “They all ate and were satisfied” while John’s narrative adds that the people received bread “as much as they wanted.” All four accounts conclude that disciples had gathered 12 basketfuls of leftovers.

In your hungry years, put your trust in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You’ll never know what He will multiply. And you will find satisfaction for your soul.