"A FAMINE FOR HEARING THE WORDS OF THE LORD--(A Short Teaching)

March 18, 2013

11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. Amos 8

We see famine around us as people are starving to death in such countries as Ethiopia and other places around the world, and in our own country of America as well. It is a terrible thing to know hunger, especially when young children are starving to death, and a parent can't find the food to feed them. We have so much in our nation and in other places around the world. We lack for nothing, except for hearing the "true" word of the Lord.

We have churches all around us from just about every denomination one could think of, and yet, are we really hearing the true word of the Lord? We probably hear about how much God loves us. We probably hear about how much He wants to bless us, but are really hearing His full counsel? Many of us go to the pharmacist to get medication for our ailments, and after we take a pill, we perhaps feel better for a while. How many of us go to church and expect to receive the right kind of spiritual medication to energize us or to give us a "jump start" for a few hours?

We may well hear a good sermon. We may well hear a portion of "the truth" as it is given in piece meal. But I would say that we truly do have a famine in the land for hearing the word of the Lord. We are a people who are shriveling up. We aren't fed the real manna from heaven. I say this because I really doubt that many know or are prepared for the darkness that is coming to our land. Many think that we live in a land that is well protected and is held in safety by its leaders and the prayers that we send up from time to time. And if some do heed the words from a prophet that speaks about these things, we may well think that they come from a crazy man, who is deluded and is a dooms-day preacher.

To be sure, we need "balance." We need to be warned, and we also need to have "faith" that our Lord will see us through. We need a diet of the right kinds of meat, grain, fruits, and vegetables for our spirits. Our human bodies can't just live on desserts. We also can't just live on meat and potatoes. Some live on just vegetables and fruit and perhaps they are the healthy ones, but if we find the right types of foods for our bodies, surely we can also find the right ones for our spirits as well.

Let's seek the true word of the Lord in this hour so that there may be found an oasis there. Otherwise, we may well wake up one day and find that we are truly living in a desert.

Amen.

Stephen Hanson