Hunger as motivation: the 'mother of invention'

By Tony Copple

Tony in a whir, talking with the kids at an earlier time
​Tony and the Avian Park kids during a rare moment of 'stillness' during soaking prayer.

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Tony shared a little talk on the importance of being motivated by hunger - a desire to do something, not only to improve their personal lives, but to help others.  Here's what L-A was able to transcribe from our My Father's House Worcester meeting on June 11, 2018:

How many of you are hungry?  I want to talk to you about being hungry.  You probably think that being hungry is very bad.  But actually, being hungry can be good.  It says in the Bible, that God wants to give us a hunger and a thirst for Him.  He wants us to feel that we are hungry for more of him.  If you are not hungry for God, then you won’t take any notice of him. You won’t bother about him.  But let’s talk about hunger in the stomach – that is, that you are hungry because you didn’t have enough food.  Here’s why that can be a good thing.  There is a phrase that necessity is the mother of invention.  It means that if you are hungry, then you will try and find ways to find food.  If you’re not hungry, you won’t be willing to find ways to find food.  Do you understand what I am saying?  Where there is no hunger, no one really cares about such things as finding food.

But when you have nothing, no food and very little money; then you need to act, to improve your life.  You need to do something that will make your life better.  It is only because you are hungry that you will try and do that.  Now some people when they are really hungry, will go begging on the street.  And we see plenty of those here in Worcester.  But other people, instead of begging on the street, they can find ways so that they can earn some money. Maybe they will help with parking your cars. Maybe they will make a little business selling fruit.  They will do all sorts of things to make some money.  And this is good – because if you’re hungry, you want to change things. You want to change things in your life.   Think about your parents. When they were hungry, they did some sort of work, so they could earn some money.  That’s why they did it, because they were hungry.  Many of the people who are now famous in the world, started out very hungry.  And they thought, maybe I should start selling something to people, or doing some service for people.  So these people did it, became successful, and then they became famous!  But if you ask them how they started – many of them were very poor.  I’m talking about film stars and singers!  They started out very, very poor and they had this drive to improve themselves.  If they played the guitar, they made themselves practice for many, many hours, so they could play the guitar. And then they started making money from it.  Elvis Presley, one of the most famous singers in the world – he started out very, very poor.  And there are many others who have the same story.

But it’s also true that some people start out rich; some people are the children of millionaires. They start out in life with plenty of money. And you know what happens to many of those people?  They waste their money.  They use it for bad things like drugs and alcohol.  And after years, those people who started out rich, become poor.   They use up all the money that they had.  Is it better to start out poor and become rich, or start out rich and become poor?   I think it’s better to start out poor and become rich.  And we always need to teach our children. When you grow up and have children, you need to teach them how they can earn money, so they can be self-sufficient and not end up begging.  This is particularly true in townships.  Because people give up, and they think, “I give up.  I can’t ever become successful or rich.”  This is NOT true!  In this group, there are sixty people that we have here.  Some of you have a lot of brains, and you can become very successful.  Maybe some of you are musicians, or you want to become musicians.  Maybe some of you can become businessmen. Now not everyone has those kinds of brains.  But sometimes, God will give you a wish to help others, and give service to help people.  And that’s good too. God gives these gifts to help people.  I don’t care if you’re in California or Worcester.  

There are just as many good brains – they’re all spread out equally. Everyone has an equal opportunity. God wants the best for us. That’s why he gives us brains. That’s why he gives us talents. That’s why he shows us that there are things that we can do, if we follow his plan. Christianity is all about following God’s plan.  Christianity is following God’s plan and having that feeling that he wants you to do this or that, and then doing it. (It’s about obedience to Jesus).  If you feel that he wants you to do something, but you don’t do it, that’s very sad.  And he does want everyone to be successful.

Maybe God wants us all to be rich too.  Abraham, who is the father of the Jewish nation, which gave birth to Christianity too.  Abraham was very, very rich.  He had hundreds and hundreds of cattle.  He had lots of gold and silver.  God loved him, even though he was very rich.  So being rich is not bad. But if you become rich, you have a chance to do lots of good in the world, if you don’t waste your money.  And that’s what God would like us to do, he would like us to become rich through the talents and gifts he has given us, and then work with our friends, and help everybody do better than they are doing.   You can be full of hope, because everyone has skills and talents and every one of you can do well.  If you’re in school,  listen to what the teachers are teaching you, because you need that information to do well in life.  If the teacher is teaching you about history, listen to them.  If they are teaching you about math or reading, listen to them.

That’s the way you start out a good life.  It’s very sad to see someone who leaves school very young.  They never get an education – it’s very, very sad. So education is a way forward for all of you.  I’m just going to pray a little prayer and thank the Lord for all the skills and talents that he gives us. 

​Dear Lord Jesus, I ask you to bless all the people here. I ask you to show them what’s in store for them, your plan for them.  Show them that they are loved by you every minute of the day.  You love them and want the best for them. You want to show them what is the best way, for your plan that you want to work out in their lives. Show them how to make friends and not enemies. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.