“I am hungry, but not for food”
The words stopped me in my tracks. I felt them deep in my soul and part of me cried out “GOD! I want to want YOU more than food!”. I caught a glimpse of Grey’s Anatomy and one of the characters (I don’t really watch the show so I don’t know their names), was studying for an exam, and another person suggested they take a break for dinner. Person 1’s response…. “I am hungry, but not for food”. Yikes! If someone can be THAT hungry for wisdom of this World, why should I be any less hungry for God? Since then, the Lord has brought me to new places in the practice of fasting, but I know there is more work to be done.
Then, today, while channel surfing after midnight, I caught wind of a worship service that seemed legit. It was totally my style worship. I lingered a moment in the presence of God. Then the preaching started, so I changed the channel, expecting a worst case scenario of televangelist. The Lord prompted me to go back. I’m so glad I did (you know what they say about assuming things). Right away his message connected with my heart. He was talking about passion and hunger for God. He shared a story of a time in college when he decided to wake up early and spend an hour with God in the morning (a goal I have made, and failed at more times than I can count). His trick….on the mornings when he slept in, he determined he would skip lunch instead. This was not some type of punishment (like I am so quick to expect for myself), but instead, a revelation that “the one thing I will not do without, is You (God)”. He would let nothing else in life cause him to miss out on God. If the mornings didn’t work, then it didn’t mean he missed out on that time with the Lord…he would make it happen some other time in his day. He also was addressing his flesh and had an attitude that he would make his flesh get in line and not let laziness keep him from encountering the Lord. He also said something to the effect of “I am more hungry for God than for Anything else”. Echo back to my initial story. OK God, help me to be more Hungry for You than for Anything else, even food!
For me, life is so busy, there are 3 days a week I don’t even get a lunch break because I teach a class over my break. Then I hit the ground running after work before crawling home at some time of night. How easy it is to have a day where I ‘missed out’ on time alone with the Lord. I never have a day without God, and He and I have done well at doing life together. I talk to Him and sing to Him all day. But there is something special about having time set aside for just the 2 of you. God, help my heart to cry out “The one thing I will not do without, is YOU!”.
If you know me, you know how my mornings go…..not well.
So, this one channel surfing event has touched on 4 BIG things God is working with me on…
1) “I hunger, but not for food” – incorporating the spiritual discipline of fasting as a lifestyle.
2) “I am more hungry for God than for anything else”– having a passion and hunger for the Lord that supersedes ALL else.
3) “The one thing I will not do without is You God” – not having anything else in my life, including food or sleep, that I am willing to keep in my day at the expense of one-on-one time with God.
4) “putting my flesh in its place” – not letting my ‘flesh’ (as in sinful nature and laziness) dictate my schedule and allowing me to skip time with God.
