So the last post talks about Amaziah accusing Amos of plotting against the king, and telling him to stop prophesying and go away.
Now you’ll get to see Amos’s response.
[Amos] answered: I’m not a prophet! And I wasn’t trained to be a prophet. I am a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. But the Lord told me to leave my herds and preach to the people of Israel. And here you are, telling me not to preach!
Amos 7:14-16 (CEV)
“I’m not a prophet, haven’t even had any training to become one. I’m a sheep-herder, a tree-tender, and a fig-gatherer. But God told me to preach to Israel’s people. And you’re telling me not to!?”
Amos goes on to prophesy to Amaziah, and the book of Amos continues for two more chapters.
People will so often try to stop us. They’ll tell us to be quiet. They’ll ask us to leave them alone, to stay away from them. They’ll attempt to discourage us, to turn us away from serving God or at least not be so passionate and willing about it. They’ll sneer at us, scold/yell at us, put us down, stir up trouble for us, etc.
But if we’re doing what God has commanded to do, then we shouldn’t stop.
I imagine Amos’s response was maybe a little angry, as this priest is supposed to be, well, a priest, a man of God; and yet here he was, asking Amos to stop saying what God wanted said. But I also imagine Amos going, “You’re telling me to stop!? Stop doing what God has told me to do!? I can’t! I cannot and will not! He told me to give His messages to Israel and I will do that until He tells me to stop or I die. But until then, I’ll keep going; I won’t stop!”
Do we have that attitude? That determination? That persistence and confidence? “This is what God wants me to do right now. I’m going to do this, and no one can stop me but God.”
Now of course we got to be careful. Maybe God will tell us to stop through another person or through opposition or something. But if we know that we are doing the will of God, we should not, must not, cannot stop!
And remember: Amos wasn’t a prophet, wasn’t trained to be one. But God used him as His mouthpiece. So even if we’re not “trained” to do something, God can–and will–use us. 🙂
