“God does things for those who are hungry that He doesn’t do for those who are not.”
Corey Russell
In just a few days, we will feast upon delicious food at our Thanksgiving tables. Our hunger will be satisfied by the plethora of food. To ensure maximum enjoyment, I’ll make sure I’m hungry before I partake of the meal.
In the Kingdom of God, hunger is desired. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). God wants us to come to Him hungry so He can be the one who makes us content. But too often we choose to fill ourselves with things other than God to satisfy our longings.
The first time we experienced the Brownsville revival in Pensacola, Florida, I saw a woman lying on the floor, gently pounding her fists into the carpet, crying out to God, “I have to have more of you!” Her desperation for God, her craving for more of Him, brought Him much pleasure. It’s not our adequacies that lead us to God, rather it’s our inadequacies, our need for Him, which propels us into His loving arms.
In the natural, we become physically hungry when there is a lack of food. Spiritually, our hunger for God skyrockets when we don’t meet our needs for security or identity with idols. Our false gods that temporarily satisfy, decreases our hunger for God.
In the food industry, “optimizing” is when they create the greatest amount of craving. In the spiritual realm, how can we create the greatest longing for God? One way is through only allowing Him to meet our needs and having His provision satiate us. God longs to have us come to Him, to be our solitary source of satisfaction. Psalm 107:9 says, “For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
As we approach the Thanksgiving table, knowing our hunger will be more than satisfied, let’s have our craving for God be fully met by the One, true God, Himself. To ensure maximum spiritual pleasure, keep yourself in a state of hunger, always needing Him to fulfill and meet all your needs.
“Once we have given up on anyone else answering our cry to be filled, we look to God alone to answer us, and that produces the cry of true hunger.”
Corey Russell
Relevant Reflection:
How can you make sure you’re hungry for God?