If I don’t get something now, I’ll starve
When my daughter was six, she threw a fit when we had the audacity to fix leftovers from the previous night’s meal. She looked at the food, curled her nose at it and announced to no on imparticular, “Spaghetti again, I’m sick and tired of Spaghetti!” Normally this wouldn’t have bothered me, yet the bills had been piling up with no end in sight, I had been working all the overtime I could just to keep food on the table and this child wanted to complain. Another cost cutting measure I had been doing for the last two years had been to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my break and lunch six or seven days a week and she was tired of having the same thing for two meals? Her statement caused something in me to snap and my retort was anything but wholesome or Christ like. Yet, for all the hurt I felt inside, I’ve found myself looking at a pantry full of food and complaining “There’s nothing to eat around here!”
This next “must needs be” Sign God gave us states that there shall be famines. With the war in Ukraine there has been hints of famine creeping up around the world as food shipments are not taking place causing hundreds of thousands or even millions to go to bed hungry. What’s laughable is that in first world countries such as the United States they have a new term called food deserts. (What Is a Food Desert? Causes, Statistics, & Resources | Ohio University) People living in these areas have a harder time accessing food stores located more than 3 miles away. For us this has become a problem that the government is trying to address. Yet in third world nations around the world people walk up to 20+ miles one way to get food. <Insert sarcastic tone here> We have it so rough, don’t we?
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Matthew 24:7
Mark 13:8
So we know there are famines coming our way, when, we don’t know. The question is what should we do about it? The best example comes from God’s Word in Genesis 47:13-31. Here Joseph interprets a dream of a time of famine and offers Pharaoh a solution to the problem. I’m not saying to stockpile years of food waiting for the zombie apocalypse, I am saying that you should have a deep pantry maintaining enough food to last more than three days.
Another possibility, is this would be a good time to try your hand growing a small garden, You might not grow enough to support your family but it would save some money on your food bill. Trust me when I say that fresh picked vegetables you grew yourself tastes better than any store bought produce. In some areas you may be able to raise chickens, mine are free range and I get all the eggs I can handle and enough I’ve given away several dozen extra.
At least one day or even one meal this week, abstain from eating. This spiritual discipline is called fasting. During this fast spend the time spent eating and give it to prayer and mediation to God.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
Father,
I’m so concerned with my physical hunger that I ignore by
spiritual hunger. Lord, I choose to skip this meal as way of
showing that it is you my heart’s desire and that I’m willing to
suffer some discomfort to have you closer. Refresh my soul
as the food refreshes my body for you are sweeter to me than
the sweetest honey. Accept this offering as you accept your Son.
Amen
Teaching the End of Wickedness 