When You Are Hungry

In our land of plenty food is abundant, so much so that we are becoming a fat nation, with many health problems that are rooted in eating too much of the wrong kinds of food!  Cheap, fat-filled, sugary, and calorie-laden foods fill our stomachs but do not satisfy our hunger, causing us to eat more than we need.  Despite being 'full' we still 'feel' hungry.   It’s not just our bodies that can be fed junk food. Our souls go unsatisfied when we try to fill that longing for God with cheap substitutes.  Endless pleasure,  nights packed with entertainment,  houses full of things; even experiences for our physical desires cannot quiet the cry of a hungry heart.

In a great chapter, packed with promises first written to the people of ancient Jerusalem, now given to those who part of God’s covenant through Christ, we are given an invitation to a feast!   "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live."  (Isaiah 55:1-3, NIV)

Let’s be honest.  The cheap thrills of the devil’s table have an immediate appeal!  Sin is fun and full of allure.  It can difficult to understand that the hunger of our soul will be satisfied by knowing God, by opening our heart and mind to His Presence, by pursuing the way to which He points us.    It is much easier to get our kicks, to be emotionally stimulated, by the hype and fun of life in the fast lane. But, after feasting on the cheap stuff, the craving renews and, in addition to the hunger, we now have regrets.

That passage continues, after giving us the invitation, by urging us to take another look at how we are trying to satisfy our souls. "Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6, NLT)  His way is a wholly different way. “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9, NLT)

Think of the lesson like this.  The flavors in a salty, fat-laden potato chip are not subtle. They are easily appreciated and consuming a bag of them demands little in the way of trained palate. But, they are largely empty calories and do not really satisfy hunger.  So a person living on them will eat way too much.  A balanced meal – with complex flavors and varying types of food – asks a little more of us.  A plate of greens, a serving of meat, a hearty full-grain bread does not disappear into our stomach as easily as those chips, but when we are finished with that meal, our hunger is satisfied.

How are you satisfying your soul's hunger?   
Are you stuffing yourself, spending your resources on one thing after another, only to find that the hunger persists?

Turn to God!  Receive Christ, and pursue His ways.    
Let the Holy Spirit give you an appetite for the Word and for worship (which by the way does not just happen in church buildings) so that you will eat and be satisfied.  The Spirit sums up His appeal in Isaiah 55 with a promise of JOY expressed in rich metaphor.  Yes, feasting at God’s table, living on His Word, brings a quality of life that extends to all things. "That’s how it is with my words. They don’t return to me without doing everything I send them to do.” When you are set free, you will celebrate and travel home in peace. Mountains and hills will sing as you pass by, and trees will clap." (Isaiah 55:11-12, CEV)

Here's a word from the Word, a prayer for those who hunger. 
"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.My soul thirsts for you;my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

I will praise you as long as I live,lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

You satisfy me more than the richest feast.I will praise you with songs of joy." (Psalm 63:1-5, NLT)

_____________________

 Hungry, I come to YouFor I know You satisfy.I am empty,But I know Your loveDoes not run dry.

And so I wait for You,So I wait for You.

I'm falling on my kneesOffering all of me.Jesus, You're allThis heart is living for.

Hungry

Kathryn Scott

© 1999 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Admin. by Mercy / Vineyard Publishing)

CCLI License No. 810055