Are the problems mere misfortune or warnings of the Creator that something needs to change in our life?
Observe the message of the Creator to Israel:
• Amo 4:6 -> “And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:7,8 -> “And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:9 -> “I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:10 -> “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt:
your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:11 -> “I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
Each of these happenings seems to be mere casualties:
• Amos 4:6 -> Starvation;
• Amos 4:7,8 -> Drought;
• Amos 4:9 -> Damage in the plantation;
• Amos 4:10 -> Pestilence, robbery, assault and slaughter;
• Amos 4:11 -> Destruction.
Nonetheless, the Creator was clear saying that all of this was caused for Him so that they could repent, convert from their bad ways and return to Him. Unfortunately, they, as most of the people, didn’t believe in what is written below:
• Isa 45:7 -> “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”.
• Isa 54:16 -> “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.”.
• Amo 3:6 -> “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?”.
The truth is that nothing in this world comes about without the permission of the Creator (see Mat 10:29). Of course:
• Psa 24:1 -> “The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”.
Therefore, the Creator uses the circumstances and people to teach us a lesson and point out the way to be followed, regardless their feelings and thoughts about us. As we can read in Revelation 4, everything is positioned in relation to the throne of the Creator, that is to say, according to His dominium and sovereign will.
So, have a good and prosperous year putting this motto in a place where you can always read and live with this expectance:
• Amo 4:12 -> “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, *prepare to meet thy God*, O Israel. ”.
Observe the message of the Creator to Israel:
• Amo 4:6 -> “And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:7,8 -> “And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:9 -> “I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:10 -> “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt:
your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
• Amo 4:11 -> “I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”.
Each of these happenings seems to be mere casualties:
• Amos 4:6 -> Starvation;
• Amos 4:7,8 -> Drought;
• Amos 4:9 -> Damage in the plantation;
• Amos 4:10 -> Pestilence, robbery, assault and slaughter;
• Amos 4:11 -> Destruction.
Nonetheless, the Creator was clear saying that all of this was caused for Him so that they could repent, convert from their bad ways and return to Him. Unfortunately, they, as most of the people, didn’t believe in what is written below:
• Isa 45:7 -> “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”.
• Isa 54:16 -> “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.”.
• Amo 3:6 -> “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?”.
The truth is that nothing in this world comes about without the permission of the Creator (see Mat 10:29). Of course:
• Psa 24:1 -> “The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”.
Therefore, the Creator uses the circumstances and people to teach us a lesson and point out the way to be followed, regardless their feelings and thoughts about us. As we can read in Revelation 4, everything is positioned in relation to the throne of the Creator, that is to say, according to His dominium and sovereign will.
So, have a good and prosperous year putting this motto in a place where you can always read and live with this expectance:
• Amo 4:12 -> “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, *prepare to meet thy God*, O Israel. ”.