What Do You Hunger For?

As soon as I come home from work, I usually start dinner. I love to cook, and it is important for me to eat healthy and provide dinner for my family. It takes a lot of preparation to make it happen. Recipe hunting, patient days in the crowded aisles of the grocery store, and food prep that overtakes the kitchen are a weekend tradition.

And if I don’t get it done, Monday still comes.

Monday. The first day of the work and school week can always bring on a little stress. So, when I open the refrigerator, the freezer and the pantry door, only to find I have nothing to prepare for dinner, I get a little more stressed. Then I remember, I skipped out on my weekend tradition. It happens. Every once in a while, life gets to hectic to get it done.

Suddenly, what I usually enjoy doing isn’t so fun. Instead of making a trip to the grocery store on the busiest afternoon of the week, I ignore the fact that there is nothing to prepare for dinner and sit down with my afternoon decaf. After a few minutes, I go back and look again for food, food that I don’t have. I open the refrigerator, the freezer and the pantry door. I open the same doors and I find the same thing – nothing, it is empty.

“Our appetites dictate the direction of our lives — whether it be the cravings of our stomachs, the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longings of our spirits for God.” – John Piper

As I stare at the empty shelves, I think t to myself, this is what happens when I keep going back to the same worldly things to fill my soul. I open the door to what the world offers me, expecting to be filled with what I need, then nothing. I still hunger.

Why can’t I feel …
Why can’t I be …
Why don’t I have …

My soul longs to be filled, yet I keep going back to the same empty, there-is-nothing-to-fill-you-in-here places.

Accomplishment.
Acceptance.
Approval.

The world provides an answer for all our wants and needs. If you long to be accomplished, work hard and do whatever it takes to climb to the top. If you want to be accepted, look good and say the right things, especially on social media. If it’s approval you seek, hang with the right people and say yes to everything and everyone. If you fail, try and try again. Maybe you will succeed and for a while life is good. Or maybe you will end up tired, hurt and still empty.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – ‭‭John‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Sometimes, we have to learn the same lessons over and over again. I am often tempted to wander back to what the world has to offer. When I do, God reminds me that the world doesn’t have what I need, but He does. When I fail, He loves me unconditionally. When I am alone, He is there. When I am rejected, my Father in heaven accepts me with arms wide open.

Seek Him, with your whole heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” – Matthew 5:6

David is often described as a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22) Despite all his failures, and his mighty victories, he turned to God. The king of Judah, a man with immense power and resources seeks God.  David knew that God is the only one that can satisfy. In his darkest moments, he sought the Lord.  He could have spent time strategizing how to fix his problems, manipulating his circumstances or having a pity party, but he didn’t. He acknowledged that there is nothing greater than God and cried out “Oh God, you are my God.” -Psalm 63.

“My soul thirsts for you.” (vs 1)
“My soul will be satisfied.” (vs 5)
“My soul clings to you.” (vs 8)

Too often, we get wrapped up in chasing after our version of what we want or what we think we need, instead of seeking God. Be confident that the presence of God is enough. He is in control.

Just as the body is made to hunger for nourishing food, our souls are made to hunger for God. Nothing other than Christ Jesus will satisfy or sustain our deepest desires.

Hunger no more.

“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” – Psalm 34:10

Even the strongest, most capable creatures of God will hunger, but when we seek him, we will have all we need. It is my hope and prayer for you that you know Christ Jesus as your source of hope. He wants you to seek Him, over and over again. Keep going back to God, the only hunger you will experience is for more of Him.