He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:9 (NKJV)

Satisfaction Attraction – Satisfaction Series – Part 2

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2

That deep longing in your soul, the hunger that gnaws away at your mind into the deep dark hours of the night and into the next day, infecting the sunlight with heaviness… there can be satisfaction for it.

I’m not going to get all cheesy and say, “Jesus is the answer. Just look to him and he’ll satisfy your hunger!” Because, although I do believe it, it's more complicated than that. It's easier said than done.

Psalm 107 describes starvation and relief within the space of a few lines. It’s a poem. It sounds beautiful and light and it flows off the tongue with ease and grace. But in real life? Starvation? Satisfaction? Hunger? Thirst? To eat? To drink? To walk out of our deserts and wastelands into freedom and curious satisfaction takes more than just a few beautiful words on a page.

Yesterday, we mentioned the first of twelve steps that AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) uses to empower people to overcome and manage their addictions. The first step, of course, is to admit that you have a problem that you can’t control. And this isn’t exclusive to addicts. I think all of us find ourselves in situations and circumstances that are beyond our control, and we need help to move forward, walk on, find a way out. And there is a way out. Taking responsibility for our lives and asking for help is the first step.

Even though God brought the Israelites out of the desert some forty years after they entered it, they still faced challenges and heartaches. They still had work to do, and THEY had to do it.

You and I know that God is not like a vending machine. We don’t pop in our prayer, press the button that correlates with our desired outcome and then wait for it to drop. He doesn’t work like that. We know it, but often we fail to live like it.

When we start to get honest about the condition of our hearts, our inner starvations and thirsts; when we start asking for help, we start noticing something else: hope. Sometimes it shows up in the form of music, prayers, meeting kind strangers, friends showing up on our doorstep with food, Divine Presence, a supernatural experience, a gift of resource. I think hope, like God (you can extract one from the other) is always here. Always present. Always ready. But it's not until we get honest and humble that we can see it.

We need each other. We need help. That’s not a failure. That’s being a human. Our connectedness is a blessing, not a curse. God will meet us in our pain and starvation, and he'll gift us the help of others, too. It’s up to us to take and eat the bounty he provides.

And then something else happens. After you have eaten, and you’ve been satisfied, hunger returns. Always. You don’t eat once and for all. Your hunger will return and you have to keep eating. The satisfaction that God provides doesn’t induce laziness or a stationary life, a life no longer in need. It’s good, healthy food that fuels our muscles, feeds our blood, and encourages our curiosity.

In The Lord's Prayer recorded by Matthew (6:11), Jesus said, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Daily. Every day.

One meal is not enough to satisfy a lifetime of hunger. But as you continue to feed your heart and soul the Divine's love and ways, the more hungry you become, the more your longing grows, the more curious your satisfaction becomes. And instead of wasting away for lack of sustenance, your strength gains momentum. Yes, you’ll experience wastelands again. Yes, you’ll enter seasons of sharp hunger again. But if you stay aware and awake, you’ll know where to find your satisfaction. Or at least, where to look for it. And more than that, you’ll be able to help others fill their hungry and thirsty hearts, too.

What is it that you most need to recognise to move forward? Leave us a comment below.

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