UNDERSTANDING GOD
"I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord."
Amos 4:11 (NKJV)
READ: Amos 4:6-11
God does not communicate straight, He speaks nonverbally, proverbially, or indirectly. Whenever He is communicating indirectly, He expects the believer who is being addressed to respond by taking certain steps in response to what he has seen.
In the above chapter of the Bible, Amos 4:6-11, things like punishment or discipline which God meted out to the Israelites were meant to get their attention and cause them to come closer to Him. God kept repeating it in each verse: " . . . YET YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED TO ME." SAYS THE LORD" (Amos 4:6-9).
This statement was repeated severally in verses 6,8,9,10, and 11. In other words, with the discipline or chastisement meted out to the Israelites, God expected them to return or come back to Him in repentance.
Likewise in every believer's life, if you are experiencing a negative hand of God, chastisement or suffering, you should know that God is calling your attention; He wants you to come around, He has issues with you which He would want to trash out.
Mostly when there is a predicament in a believer's life, it is not unknown to God, He must have permitted the predicament to get the person's attention. Nothing will happen in your life, either good or bad, without His knowing: "IF THERE IS A CALAMITY IN A CITY, WILL NOT THE LORD HAVE DONE IT?" (Amos 3:6)
READ: Amos 3:3-6
All He asked in the passage, Amos 3:3-6, said to be read, are rhetoric questions. God deciphered or decoded the answers to their problems or woes or calamities through the questions.
God would want a believer to always discern His moves, or moods, whether He, God, delighted in something or not. This is an important aspect of life in the spirit which any believer who is walking with God ought to understand.
In my place, a child should be able to understand his or her parents through their facial expressions. If your parents are in favour with what you are about to do, whilst some other strangers or neighbours are around, he or she might not need to talk verbally, looking at their countenance you should be able to know whether your mom or dad wants you to do it or not. A look on your parent's face or countenance would tell you whether they are in support of it or not.
Likewise in a believer's relationship with God, He would not need to talk audibly before you get to know whether He is in favour or not of what you are about to do, or what you are doing.
However, it is quite unfortunate that a lot of believers are dull of hearing, they are not discerning; in which they mostly could not decode or decipher God's signs or signals when He would not want them to do something (Hebrews 5:11).
a. God allowed famine in the land of Judah, Israel, whilst it rained in other neighbouring cities, but rain was withheld in their cities (Amos 4:7).
b. They had lack of food, lack of water.
c. Pests, locusts came to devour their farm produce (Amos 4:9).
d. They were plagued, and their young men were killed with swords (Amos 4:10).
Yet with all that happened to them, they could not decipher, discern, that God was angry with them and needed their attention—He wanted them to come and return to Him (Amos 4:6-10; Hosea 6:1).
A believer should be discerning, sensitive, and not be dull of hearing (Hebrews 5:11). A believer should be able to read the handwriting on the wall.
When God's countenance changes towards you, you should be able to know or discern it. Many believers, even with severe problems, they would still not be able to understand.
May the Lord open your hearing ears and seeing eyes (Proverbs 20:12) in Jesus' mighty name.
Peace.