A Holy Hunger
A Holy Hunger
Scot Caley, Lead Minister
The wisdom of the day tells us that each of us must search and find our own purpose. This perilous journey leads us to an endless, futile search for meaning. Possibly, that’s why we have so many broken relationships, so many scarred lives, so many shattered dreams, so much emptiness and loneliness. Often Christians face the problem of meaning with the same futility as people living lives apart from Christ. Often, we search for antidotes to our perceived problems which are only symptoms of a larger problem. The larger problem is that we were made to live in relationship with God. When we ignore or minimize our need for a relationship with God, we become desperate for fulfillment, desperate for healing, desperate for wholeness. We become hungry and we long for the hunger to be satisfied.
Here’s a Truth: Our hunger cannot be satisfied by people, possessions, or any earthly thing, but by being filled with God’s presence and having a relationship with him.
Here’s another truth: God still loves us and longs to be in relationship with us.
UNDERSTANDING OUR HUNGER:
One reason we may not recognize our hunger for God is that we struggle to know what hunger really is. The psalmist had a deep hunger, but unlike most of us, he understood the source of his hunger and expressed it clearly:
Psalm 42:1,2 (MSG) “A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. I’m thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, “Will I ever make it - arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
You can hear the grumbling in the souls of people caused by hunger all around. From bars to Bible studies. Unfortunately, people – both those outside the church and many inside – have failed to recognize in those hunger pains a deep longing for God. Many identify their hunger as the need for a relationship, which it is. But they look for the perfect relationship with another person. We try to fill our void with a parent, a spouse, children, friends, love interests, and we endlessly look for someone who will make us feel happy and complete. Yet, each time we do, we are disappointed because there are no perfect human relationships. There is no person that can make you or I feel completely satisfied. The Bible never tells us to love another person with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is investing way too much in any human being.
St. Augustine of Hippo confesses: “You have made us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they rest in you.”
Isaiah 26:8,9 - (NIV) “Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”
Psalm 63:1 - (MSG) “God - you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God.”
Our loving Creator has fearfully and wonderfully made each of us with an inner desire, a hunger to know Him. His heart rejoices when we accept and draw near to Him. He delights when we accept His eager desire for a relationship with us.
Isaiah 30:18 - (NLT) “So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.”
God is a self-sufficient God and needs nothing, including us, to be complete. Yet, He loves us so much, so overwhelmingly, and He wants us to benefit from Him. He relentlessly pursues us as a shepherd for his sheep, as a father for his children, as a mother for her baby, as a groom for his bride. Until we understand that and respond to His love, we are like the prodigal son, searching again for the security of our home. And our search will end in disappointment until our search gets back to its initial root, our longing for God. No human relationship, no job, nothing but God can ultimately satisfy us.
Until the nets are full, Scot