Famine in the last days

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
(Mat 24:7)

We should not be ignorant of things that must happen as Jesus warned us. If we have been warned by our Lord, what should be our response?

We must not be troubled (Matt 24:6). These events need to take place as the beginning of sorrows, meaning a birthing of a greater plan in God’s divine will. The end of the sinful world will come and there will be the establishment of the reign and rule of Christ. Eventually restoration will take place with the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1, 2). We will not be troubled if we look forward to the coming of Christ. If our lives are rooted deeply in the world and hope for better things in it we are destined to be troubled.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
(1Jn 2:15-17)

The dividing line of being troubled or not is in the focus of our love. We can't choose between the Father and the world. Why attach ourselves to the world and it’s systems that will eventually be replaced with the eternal. A lot of us probably don’t look forward to Jesus’ second coming because we think that we haven’t gained or reaped what we desire for from the world. But the price for gaining even the whole world will result in a forfeiting of our souls! Loving the world also forfeits us of an eternal hope. The way that we measure ourselves and others are mostly by what we have reaped from the world (what status in society we hold, how big a car or how grand a house or how large is our bank account). If we measure ourselves by the world's standards than when God's plumbline (Amos 7:7,8) is put against us, where will we stand.

If we continue to live in the love of the world, then we are famished spiritually. Our spirits are not fed and weak.

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
(Luk 2:40)

The evidence of being strong in spirit is the filling of Godly wisdom and God’s grace upon us. Jesus was able to astonish the teachers of His time with His deep understanding. This understanding was so great that He lived a life pleasing His Father and was publicly declared as His beloved Son. How much we desire man’s praises rather than God’s. How much we desire love and admiration from people rather than God's. The grace or favor of God was so wonderful upon His life and people around Him saw the evidence of it. Many desire treasures, but few desire the favor of God. That accounts for the famine in the spirit.

I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
(1Jn 2:14b)

We need the Word of God to abide (dwell, remain, in-grain) in us in order to be strong. Lest we end up in the same situation of the prodigal son in famine, degraded to the base and be in desperation; eventually living defeated lives.

I Sam 3 is a sad documentation of where the Word of God was hard to come by. But God found the boy Samuel Whom He could share His broken heart with. So there was famine of God’s Word, but God wants so much to speak what is in His heart. The same occurs today, with the same offering of worship and supposed church life but the life giving Word lack. I believe that together with physical famine, a spiritual one will exist side by side.

May God raise Samuels who are found faithful to listen to His heart where there is spiritual famine.

May we be like Josephs (Gen 41:55) who was strong in spirit against circumstances and immorality that in the time of spiritual famine we can offer to others the bread of life and hope.

In the event of physical famine, this is where we will trust God to feed us miraculously as He did for Elijah.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
(Psa 37:25)

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FACTBOX - Facts and figures on world's worst food crises

Reuters - Tuesday marks World Food Day, with aid workers warning that war, weather, disease and deepening poverty leave more people hungry and in need of food aid each year just as rising prices make feeding them more expensive.

Below are some global statistics on food shortages and aid and a summary of some of the world's current food crises.

-- 854 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat, more than the combined populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union.


People line up for free porridge distributed by a Christian group outside a church in Manila October 16, 2007. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), part of the United Nations, marked World Food Day on October 16. (REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo)
-- In the 1990s, global poverty dropped by 20 percent, as the number of hungry people increased by 18 million.

-- Every five seconds a child dies because of hunger.

-- One in four children in developing countries is underweight.

AFRICA

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO -- widespread shortages persist despite the end of Africa's most destructive civil war, with the U.N. unable to reach a third of the 300,000 people newly displaced by renewed fighting in the east.

ETHIOPIA -- as Ethiopia's government fights a counter-insurgency campaign in its ethnic Somali Ogaden region, rebels accuse the government of "man-made famine" and aid workers say delivery of food aid to 600,000 people is patchy at best. The Red Cross and aid group MSF have both been expelled from the region.

LESOTHO and SWAZILAND -- the two southern African kingdoms are suffering drought, soil erosion and some of the world's highest HIV rates and have suffered serious shortages every year this decade.

MALAWI and ZAMBIA -- having suffered years of repeated shortages from drought, the impact of HIV and deepening poverty, both countries have reported a surplus this year after better weather and improved access to inputs such as fertiliser.

SOMALIA -- ongoing conflict and the worst drought in years combined to restrict access to aid agencies and commercial supply of food, particularly after the closure of the main market in the capital Mogadishu. The U.N. says there have been 13 deaths at WFP food distributions this year and the number of incidents is rising. Maritime aid shipments run the risk of piracy.

SUDAN -- despite growing insecurity aid workers continue to feed some 4 million people in need of assistance in Darfur, as well as others affected by the now ended conflict in the south and recent flooding.

UGANDA -- widespread flooding in northern Uganda, home to people displaced by conflict, has led to WFP airdrops of food. Some 250,000 people in camps did not receive their September rations because of flooding.

WEST AFRICA -- after serious shortages in the Sahel in 2005, West Africa is seen as having had a good agricultural year but aid workers warn pockets of shortage remain in countries such as Niger, which remain vulnerable to massive crop failures.

ZIMBABWE -- drought, HIV, economic and agricultural collapse have hit harvests and the U.N. sees food aid needs rising from a current one million people to 4 million by the end of the year.

ASIA

AFGHANISTAN -- despite ongoing conflict, Afghanistan has seen its best grain harvest in years.

NORTH KOREA -- still recovering from a devastating famine in the 1990s, North Korea this year suffered floods that damaged nearly a sixth of arable land. WFP is providing flood emergency food rations to 215,000 people.

SRI LANKA -- the resumption of civil war in 2006 restricted both commercial food deliveries and aid flows particularly to rebel Tamil Tiger areas in the north and east. The government-held northern Jaffna enclave has been effectively cut off for over a year, with rising prices and malnutrition rates.

MIDDLE EAST

IRAQ - food distribution in Iraq is difficult due to widespread violence, and AID agencies find it hard to reach the 2 million displaced within Iraq. Another 2 million people have fled mainly to neighbouring Syria and Jordan.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES -- some 2 million Palestinians receive food aid either from WFP or from the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency, which works with Palestinian refugees. Food aid has been allowed through Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip since the takeover by Islamist group Hamas. With Gaza unable to export, food stalls are unusually well-stocked but with the economy collapsing many are too poor to buy.

LATIN AMERICA

COLOMBIA -- with years of war giving Colombia one of the highest rates of displacement in the world, WFP feeds half a million people displaced by conflict.

SOURCES: United Nations World Food Programme, UNRWA, Reuters