Devotions with Pastor John

Mar 31

Written By

Thirsty for God

Psalm 42[a][b]

For the director of music. A maskil[c] of the Sons of Korah.

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

"Where is your God?"

These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

under the protection of the Mighty One[d]

with shouts of joy and praise

among the festive throng.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Ever been truly thirsty? You crave the first drink of water. Fresh, cool, clear water.

You dream about it. You fantasize about it. You are looking forward to that sip of water so much you actually ache for it.

When you put the water to your lips and drink, you start to feel better and better. We cannot live without water. As it comes into our bodies, life is restored.

Have you ever been thirsty for God? Maybe you are right now. Lately, bad news follows bad news. Fear is everywhere. When will it end?

Being a follower of Jesus, I know it won't end until I'm back home in heaven with him. "For our citizenship is in heaven and from there we await a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord." (Philippians 3:20)

I received some news from a trusted source today. It's not about the virus. It's about the plague of locusts tormenting Asia and Africa. Can you believe it? A pandemic and locusts? What's next?

I've included what I received for you to read below. At the end of it there is an address and a phone number if you want to bless the poor affected by the locusts.

Verse 4 talks about how the psalmist remembers going to church. How he used to go up to the House of the Lord with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

We can't do that now. We might give someone the virus. The psalmist can't go either. For other reasons we don't understand. But he wishes he could.

I guess we can understand the mood of the psalmist when he says, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?" Well, look around. There is a lot to be disturbed about.

But the psalmist doesn't leave it there. Sure things are bad. They might even get worse. But take heart! Be of good cheer! He reminds us, and his own soul, "Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

I don't think our correspondent here is being trite. "Oh, well. Believe anyway." I think he's reminding us that in fact, God will act and we will be saved. And we will praise Him. In the meantime we need to hope. We need to believe.

Jesus said it this why, (my favorite verse): "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. " He wants us to put our hope in him. Everything else will let us down. But he won't.

Job, who had more to deal with than we do, puts it this way: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God." (Job 19:25-26) Help is coming. We will yet praise him.

So here's all I can give you today:

1). It's true. There is always someone worse off. Don't forget to pray for those affected by the locusts and other disasters. This is something we can do more of now that we suddenly have the time.

2.). We will yet praise God. This will be over. We will get through it, with God's help. It may not be the way we think we'll get through, but we will get through. Today, take some comfort in what it will be like to go up to the House of the Lord together and worship him again. Today, experiment with hope. God is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. You will again praise him.

Thanks for reading. Hold fast, Zion! The hour of our deliverance is coming. Don't give up hope.

Prayer: Lord, help me to hear you saying, "I am your hope" over all the other voices. Lord, your word says, you are the hope for hopeless so I'm running to you with both hands stretched out and grabbing on to you. Fill me up with hope and give me a tangible reminder today that hope is an unbreakable spiritual lifeline (Hebrews 6:19-20). God, you know those things in my heart that I barely dare to hope for, today I give them to you, I trust them to you, and ask that you because I know that you can do more than I could ever guess, imagine or request in wildest dreams (Eph 3:20). God, you are my hope and I trust you. Amen.

The world is reeling from the new Covid 19 virus, affecting countries rich and poor - no one knows what will happen or what to do. At the same time an old and familiar foe - the locust plague - is devastating areas of Africa and Asia. While media attention and Western resources focus on tackling their coronavirus, how will Africa's struggling healthcare systems deal with it? And what resources are left to help the victims of the locusts, whose crops have been destroyed, leaving them with the prospect of starvation?

"These locusts destroy many things. They destroy vegetables leaving people in famine. They are eating grass and leaves which cause the livestock to die, leaving the people without animals, which then cause the people to die," said Taratam, an 85-year-old Kenyan Christian farmer.

The plague of locusts is devastating crops and livelihoods in Africa and Asia. Many thousands of already marginalized and persecuted Christians are among those facing severe food shortages as vast swarms of locusts cause catastrophic loss to crops.

UN warning for East Africa

The ravenous swarms are sweeping across East Africa with devastating impact on countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and South Sudan. The UN has warned the region is on the verge of a food crisis. The infestation is the worst for decades in Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti, where Christians are already marginalized and persecuted.

Double disaster in Kenya

A double disaster has hit Kenya. In Marsabit county, unusually heavy rains brought flooding last year that wreaked extensive damage. In semi-arid East Pokot the rains did not come at all last year; pastures withered and livestock died. Our partner in the region told us, "Many [farmers] have lost seeds and hope."

Then the locusts invaded, devouring crops and pasture. If uncontained, the locust plague could increase fivefold by June.

Food relief is needed to save the lives of many Kenyan Christian families. Widows, orphans, pregnant women, children and elderly Christians are especially vulnerable.

Ethiopian farmland "looks like desert"
The locusts are deepening the serious humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia.

Normally lush and green, the highland vegetable farms "look like a desert" in the wake of the devouring swarms. Pasture for livestock has also been gnawed to stubble. Around 10,000 Christian families saw their vital subsistence food crops wiped out. They need urgent food aid to replace vanished staple food supplies.

"Things seem so hard now for many families," said our regional partner, "unless God intervenes to solve our difficulties."

30,000 acres ravaged in Pakistan

The scale of the 2020 locust invasion is almost unheard of in Pakistan. The insects ravaged around 30,000 acres of land in Sindh province. Thousands of Christian farming families are facing severe food shortages. The cotton harvest - an important cash crop - was also devoured by the insects leaving many without income.

"THIS WAS WORST ATTACK I EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE, LIKE A FLOOD OF LOCUSTS, TRAVELLING AND EATING EVERYTHING ON ITS WAY," SAID RAMOO (AGED 61)

Many farmers have been forced to sell their livestock and household possessions to buy food and other basic family needs.

Locusts pour into Uganda and South Sudan

A mature swarm of desert locusts poured across from western Kenya into north-east Uganda in February. The insects caused significant destruction in the border districts and concerns are growing that there will be a huge loss of food crops and pasture in the cattle corridors of this rural area, as the insects breed and spread.

Swarms were also recorded in crisis-ridden South Sudan, which is already struggling with widespread food insecurity after years of civil war.

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