It Grieves God
Grieving God – Part 2
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 63:11-19
Key Verse: Isaiah 63:10
Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
Yesterday the Prophet Isaiah’s words warned us about grieving God. Earlier in his writings, Isaiah 58, Isaiah challenged God’s people to share their food with the needy and help the oppressed. Let me repeat this week’s theme: Hunger is not a Game – It Grieves God! God wants to use His children whom He has blessed to bless the hungry, but when they ignore Him, it grieves Him.
A report from a 1998 Human Development Department of the United Nations declared that $22 billion would bring clean water, health and nutrition to the world’s poor. Think of that fact for a moment in light of the estimated income of “church goers” worldwide—estimated at $5.2 trillion. American church goers own half of that $5.2 trillion. God knows that American church goers could go a long way in solving the hunger of our world—if they would!
Americans, in general, spend $700 billion on entertainment every year! If Americans alone would cut down their entertainment to $22 billion, the world’s hungry and hurting would drink clean water and have some health services!
Do these statistics bother you? I believe they grieve God. He is watching and we must continually do our part in providing food to the hungry of our world!
Father, grant me your courage and wisdom to see what you want me to do to feed the hungry. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
This is absolutely insane. We can barely make it in this day and age to help feed others, much less spend on enjoying ourselves, while others are in such dire straits. It grieves all of us as well as God.