i am hunger
by roxanne robbins
Posted under
christian living,
compassion,
daily devotional,
generosity,
giving,
God's provision,
neighbors,
oppressed people,
physical needs,
serving others,
the poor (3 comments)
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Lamentations 2:18-20
Lift up your hands to Him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger (Lamentations 2:19).
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In Isaiah 49:10, what did God promise He would do for those who hungered and thirsted?
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How can you help bring relief to someone who is experiencing extreme hunger? How can the meeting of a person’s physical hunger lead to opportunities to address their spiritual thirst?
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In a previous article, I wrote about four severely malnourished siblings that I have been daily feeding. The children—Joshua, Mirika, Ashaba, Katseme— look drastically different now that they’ve been receiving nutritious food on a regular basis. Their stomachs are no longer bloated and their skin is no longer covered with sores. And their hair is no longer falling out in patches.
Often, I think back to the unusual way I first met the children. The oldest, Joshua, was caught stealing food in my house. When I asked him why he chose to steal rather than ask me for food, he replied, “Because I am hunger.”
Lamentations 4:9 claims, “Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger.” If being stabbed is a more pleasant way to pass on than starving to death, it’s no wonder hunger drove Joshua to steal.
Intense hunger depletes a person’s strength (Job 18:12). It causes children to faint (Job 17:5; Lamentations 2:19), and causes the lowly of society to scrounge for food in desolate places (Job 30:3).
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “The new estimate of the number of people who [suffered] chronic hunger [in 2011] is 925 million.” Our God is a God who surely desires that these hunger statistics improve. Just as He “satisfied [the Israelites’] hunger” by providing meat and manna in the wilderness (Psalm 105:40), God longs to open His hand and “satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing” today (Psalm 145:16).
Let’s join Him by praying earnestly for the millions of starving people around the world, and by seeking tangible ways to help “satisfy the hunger” of His “treasured ones” (Psalm 17:14).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Genesis 32:1-33:16
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Roxanne…thanks for being used as a redemptive force in the lives of these kids. As I read the article I was reminded that a recurring accusation against the Hebrews in the minor prophets was their failure to care for the poor.
This reminds me of when I see birds and ducks, of how they don’t worry, they always find a way to get food. Just as Jesus tells us not to worry for God will provide.
I saw online of a church that provides food for their community to those who are in need by their church members dropping food at church. I hope and wish more churches would do so, for they are a part of the community.
Thanks for sharing the “food pantry” idea, cali4ange. Hope it catches on!