Hunger.

hun·ger

noun

1. 1.

   a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat.

   
   

verb

1. 1.

   have a strong desire or craving for.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Lately God has really been changing Britney. 

   I am currently under serious construction. 

   
   

   A couple of semesters ago I took a pottery class. 

   Even though I absolutely hated it, I feel like I'm in the shop all over again.

   
   

   Here's the catch-this time I'm the clay.

   
   

   I'm getting smacked, prodded, built up then melted down again.

   2013 really put me through the fire.

   
   

   I thought I was a pretty, polished piece.

   God didn't think so.

   He put me in the furnace, melted me down to a moldable mound of left over clay.

   
   

   Now that He's got me where He wants me, He is carving me, shaving off all the unneeded/unwanted pieces that do not reflect the vision of His finished work.

   
   

   Now, to the point-

   
   

   
   

   I love food.

   I mean, who doesn't?

   
   

   I'm the kind of gal that starts thinking about her next meal before she's even done eating the one in front of her.

   
   

   I am hungry all the time.

   No really, all the time.

   
   

   God shook me recently at a strange time (He likes to do that to me to keep things interesting).

   
   

   I was rummaging between the cabinet and the fridge, in a desperate search for something to fill my hunger.

   
   

   "I wish you would rummage so passionately in hunger for Me like you are in your pantry right now."

   
   

   Of course He got my typical response of a raised eyebrow and a shake of the head.

   I tend to shake God off a lot until He starts really pestering.

   
   

   As I made my plate of all my favorite morsels, God spoke up again right when I was about to enjoy that first bite.

   
   

   "You know I am all you need, right? I'm the most satisfying thing you will ever taste. Aren't you hungry? Really, hungry. The kind of hungry that food can not satisfy."

   
   

   My hand dropped. 

   My heart sunk.

   
   

   He was right, again.

   
   

   I was not hungry for Him, not like I was for food or so many other things of this world.

   I had never felt weak from being so desperate to taste what He had to offer.

   
   

   Though God's goal wasn't for me to feel guilty, I did.

   
   

   I did want to be that kind of desperate.

   I did.

   I was designed to want Him like that.

   
   

   I wanted to be hungry for His peace.

   I wanted to be hungry for His direction.

   I wanted to be hungry for His words.

   I wanted to be so desperate for Him, that I would rummage through the Gospel just to have another bite.

   
   

   
   

   Food is good; God made it that way.

   He doesn't want us to eat cardboard or styrofoam for lunch.

   Food is a delight, undoubtedly a pleasure.

   
   

   Food is also a distraction, an escape, an abused substance, a replacement for something that we no longer recognize as a lack- His presence.

   
   

   Fasting is often abused and misused as a diet, a fad, just something you do because you're told to.

   
   

   For me, it is an act of obedience so that I might learn to be so desperate for Him that food is just...food.

   
   

   God is my Portion.

   Fasting reveals that. 

   
   

   I never used to understand why people would fast. Granted, I'm not the kind of Christian that gives up food for 40 days.

   
   

   Heck no.

   
   

   But, why can't I sacrifice a meal in the evening to spend time with the true Satisfier of my hunger?

   
   

   You can be hungry for many things.

   You may fill your empty stomach for a short time, but you will always be hungry.

   
   

   Nothing you ever eat, feel, experience, see, no successes or amount of cash will satisfy you like the Bread.

   
   

   Do you have to fast?

   No.

   
   

   But, what are you rummaging through life's pantry for?

   
   

   If it's not Jesus, you're missing it.

   
   

   Put whatever it is down.

   
   

   Fill your belly with His goodness.

   
   

   Let Him be your Portion.

   
   

   
   

   1 Peter 2:2

   "..like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,.."

   
   

   Psalms 81:10

   "I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it."

   
   

   Matthew 5:6

   "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

   John 6:33-35

   "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst."

   Psalms 63:1

   "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water."

   John 7:37

   "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink."

   John 6:35

   "Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst."