Break out the water

God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you! I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. (Psalm 63:1)

Whenever we find ourselves in the midst of the "excesses" of life, we often crave what we most need to help us deal with the excess the best. So, we crave what we most need to deal with what we find ourselves enduring or living within! Sometimes we are "enduring" stuff by our own doing - like when I eat a huge bowl of Cheezits or eat a whole candy bar. The sodium from one and the sugar from the other just cause me to "crave" the very thing which will help my body deal with the excess of sodium or sugar - water, movement, and something a little more sensible. Take a look at some of the things that develop a more "spiritual" craving within you and you may just be surprised at how much you have been 'craving' because you are deficient in those very things.

Here we are presented with an example of traveling across dry and weary deserts as a source of both intense hunger and thirst. We all have them - deserts of sorts - making us intensely hungry and thirsty, but do we know what we hunger and thirst for in those desert places? We may live in the greenest parts of the world, but we endure deserts! The desert of loneliness has cravings all its own doesn't it? We may find ourselves suddenly without familiar acquaintances. Perhaps it is the result of a move to a new job place, the loss of a spouse, or the lack of solid friends we can pour our hearts out to when we most need it. We find ourselves enduring a sense of deep loneliness. At the core of loneliness is the idea of being without a companion in the journey. This desert may be labeled a place of isolation - whether you wanted it or not, you are isolated. In the place of isolation we find ourselves without the people or things we have found ourselves relying on in the past. As we examine the purpose of this "loneliness" desert, we might find it hard to imagine a "good" purpose! Being isolated is definitely NOT God's plan for us humans - he made us specifically to "relate" to others, not to be alone. So, what "good" comes out of this desert?

I can only share some of the things having come out of my times of being on a journey in this "loneliness" desert. I have learned I actually NEED other people. There is nothing more revealing about our "dependence" on the feedback of others, the sense of hope rendered in a simple touch, or the enjoyment of a good laugh, than to be isolated and alone. We need connection. In fact, believe it or not, we crave it! I believe God may actually allow some of us to walk this desert to draw us closer to those he has given in our lives. You know the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"? I think it is realized the most in the desert of loneliness! God's lessons to you may be a little different, but if you will allow him to speak to you in your desert, he will reveal the lessons!

The desert of despair seems to be walked frequently by some. This is a most difficult desert to face. It is one in which we have lost hope - we are without any sense of things ever getting better. In this desert, we often find ourselves out so far on the limb, the weight of our burden so great, hearing the cracking of the limb as it strains to keep us upright. We are "stuck" - we cannot go further out on the limb or turn back. This is indeed a most difficult desert to cross. Yet, the most hopeless place is often the place our faith begins to take flight! In the desert of despair, we begin to look for solutions we often ignore when things are smooth sailing. Things like intimate prayer with our Maker - pouring out our hearts to him with eager desperation. In the moment of despair, don't we often find ourselves looking back to God? Did you catch that? We are looking "back" to God! It is an amazing thing, but despair often drives us back to God - maybe even without ever recognizing just how comfortable we had become without him!

The desert of brokenness is almost as hard to endure. The very thing we need in this desert is the very thing we have absolutely no ability to accomplish on our own. It is only by the restorative and regenerating touch of our God we cross safely through this desert. We may be "broken" by a whole lot of things - bad relationships, words that have left us scarred, or just a series of bad choices which resulted in us being "undone" by life. In the desert of brokenness, we need "repair", don't we? What we drink the most freely of in this desert is God's grace. It is indeed a refreshing and restorative "drink". The purpose of any desert is to cause us to hunger and thirst. Hunger for the best, thirst for what will refresh truly. We may have a lot of desert-crossing experiences in our days on this earth. No desert is without hunger or thirst of some kind. What we do with the hunger or thirst determines the outcome of the desert-crossing! Just sayin!

Are you grazing?

There is a strange truth we might all want to consider when it comes to our hunger and being sated. The hungrier we are, the more we will 'take in' whatever is in our path. It might not even make sense, but we will eat and eat until we are no longer hungry. Come upon the same things when you are already sated and you will be less likely to find any appeal at all in them. Why? Sated bodies don't crave things the same way a hungry body does. The same holds true with a sated spirit and soul!

When you are full, you will not even eat honey. When you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet. (Proverbs 27:7)

A sated spirit and soul are going to help us avoid the 'intake' of things that are wrong for our lives. We are less likely to just 'bite into' whatever comes our way because we have been filled to overflowing already. Nothing appeals to us outside of what we have already enjoyed by sitting in the presence of Jesus and 'taking in' what he provides in those times of solitude and repose. Half of the problems (or more) in our lives could probably be avoided if we would have just 'filled our tank' with his Word before we filled it with other things!

The other night I found myself 'grazing' on whatever I could find in the kitchen cabinets and fridge. It was a hodge podge of this and that, but not really all that nourishing. It was like I couldn't find the 'right thing' to satisfy whatever it was that needed satisfying in me. Salty snacks didn't do it. Sweet ones didn't make the desire go away. Proteins helped to fill me up a little, but still didn't curb the desires. I was not really even 'hungry' as much as I was just bored and boredom leads to some pretty unwise choices at times!

God isn't going to intrude into our boredom unless we invite him to do so. We might venture into this and that in an attempt to find some fulfillment we are craving, but try as we might, nothing fulfills in quite the same way his presence does. His Word fills us to overflowing, repeatedly providing much needed 'satiation' when times are a little 'lean' in the soul. We find his Word begins to fill us again and again - even when we don't sit down and take it in again, it comes back to us and begins to fill the empty spaces within our soul.

When you are full, there is no room for the things that don't belong in your life. When you are empty, you can find all kinds of things to 'fill space', but will those things be what you really need and crave? If you are like me, the answer to that question is 'no'! The things we need and crave the most are not the hardest to find, but we do need to be consistent in 'taking in' what will provide long-term satisfaction and 'satiation' to our soul. Just sayin!

Man, I am on empty!

Have you ever blurted out to someone that you were 'starving' - perhaps having been delayed in having your lunch, or not being able to grab breakfast before your day took a huge swing into overdrive? When was the last time you said this about your soul - admitting to God that you have waited too long to take nourishment from his Word, or have been waiting for what you think is too long to receive some desired answer from him related to something that has wearied your soul? The moment we recognize our desire is the moment we look for it to be satisfied, isn't it? When it comes to our God's care and love, we don't have to starve, but we do have to have an appetite!

God won't starve an honest soul, but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked. (Proverbs 10:3)

God won't starve an honest soul - the thought provokes us to consider what it is to "starve". What is it that Solomon could have been referring to when he spoke of the "starvation" of a soul? First, let me say that starvation is more than the effects of a lack of food in the natural sense. There are many forms of starvation - emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and the kind that depletes the body of oxygen or energy, to name but a few. I think we'd do well to consider the idea of starvation in light of the spiritual sense. God does not let his kids suffer from spiritual poverty or need. He delights in meeting the needs of our hungry souls and the desires of our seeking hearts. God does not delight in seeing us crave more of him and then sit back while we "suffer" through that craving. In fact, it is that craving that he rewards - he immediately moves to see that craving fulfilled. The fulfillment of the craving for more of God's love, his grace, or his character created within us moves his heart into action.

God won't starve an honest soul - the thought of an "honest soul" gives us some indication that there may be times when we "play games" with God about the desires of our soul. I know this to be true in my life, so I am pretty well convinced that others play these "games" spiritually, as well. Let me just say that we often "say" we want more of God in our lives - but the intention of seeing that fulfilled is really not there. We half-way commit, by our own will-power, hoping to make some change in our lives that we see as making it possible for us to realize more of God's grace in our lives. The fact is that we cannot do anything to "make God" move in our lives. What God responds to is the honesty of our need. He responds to sincerity - not manipulative attempts to get him to do anything. Sometimes we think we can manipulate God to do what it is that we desire. Let me assure you that God is not moved by our manipulation - he is only moved by our honest estimation of our need and our sincere cries for more of him.

He frustrates the appetites of the wicked - we often wonder why we experience frustrations in our spiritual life. We might do well to examine our motives in approaching God with what we present as our "needs". He might be waiting until we are truly honest with him - in the meantime, we experience the frustration of waiting for his answer that seems to be delayed in coming our way. I am not saying we are "WICKED" in our approach to God, but we are not being honest about the intentions of our heart, mind, will, and emotions. We have things we are trying not to deal with - things God has clearly said we do need to deal with and we just haven't been obedient to his requests. God's delays create much frustration for us. Sometimes his delays are because of our own doing. He is waiting for us to come to a place of total honesty with him. At other times, he knows that the answer needs to be delayed simply because our heart, mind, will, and emotions are not prepared to receive what he has for us. Regardless of the delay, we experience frustration. That is a response to us perceiving that God is delaying something that we think we need, or that he is simply not listening - and we are 'starving'. The fact is....he always hears! He may delay simply because we need the time for that hunger to fully take hold!

So, let's learn to be honest with God in our needs. Come straight out and let him know where we are sensing our need right now. He will clarify if that need has a deeper source - if there is a hunger that goes much deeper than we are realizing. We need to trust him to respond to our honesty. I know we may find that foreign in our relationships - but with him, it is a prerequisite to having our needs met! The first step is recognizing our hunger, while the next steps may just be making ourselves available to receive what we need to fulfill that hunger! Just sayin!