Scripture
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.” (Amos 8:11, 12, NIV)
Observation
I’ll be the first to admit…I find it challenging to track the prophetical section of the scriptures. Which king? which prophet? what time period? what nation is God destroying now? etc. But the Word of God is living and powerful. And I love it when in the midst of my confusion, God speaks. The verses above spoke volumes to my current relationship with God.
Application
Literally, minutes before reading this passage I had written in my journal, “I wish I knew how to hear God speak. I wish I knew how to utilize the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.” Then God reveals in this passage what it would be like to live without the hearing of His Word. The verses above are followed by: “In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.” THIRSTING. HUNGERING. STAGGERING. WANDERING. SEARCHING. FAINTING. That’s what life is like when we don’t hear God speak. A famine of God’s words that results in aimless living.
I have every ounce of God’s power accessible to me. The same power that brought Jesus back to life. The same power that created the universe, split a sea, gave sight to the blind, plagued a nation with the unthinkable. The same power that transforms the ungodly into beings clothed with Christ’s righteous. That just doesn’t make any sense to my finite mind. So this power goes untapped and unused. I wonder if I would even miss Him if God struck my life with a famine of His Spirit.
Prayer
“God, You are with me 24/7 yet I forget You. I want to hunger and thirst for Your words in my life. I want to need them like I need sustenance. Please show me how to listen to Your Spirit. Amen.”
simply spoken
Sixty-six books in a year 