Hunger is a funny thing. I recently did a juice fast with my church for five days to pray in the new year. I was surprised to find that yes, I did get pretty hungry at times, but a lot of the time I just felt sort of hollow in a way that I wouldn’t categorize as hunger. Even though my body needed food, it didn’t always know how to ask for it. When I broke the fast I didn’t feel hungry, but my hunger grew as I began to eat.
The same has been true for my spiritual hunger. Some days I’m overcome with the desire to spend time praying and reading the Bible, so I do! But there are times when even though I know I’m needy, the hunger doesn’t come until after I’ve started eating spiritually. It’s not until then that I realize how hollowly I’d been living. In the same way, sometimes my joy and desire in serving doesn’t come until after I’m in the act of serving. So all I’ve concluded from these observations that hunger really is a funny thing.
I started my weekend with a hockey game (go DaWgs!) In a game of unusually intense rivalry against U of O the goals went back and forth until the thrid and final quarter (yeah that was weird to me also… quarters come in fours, right??). The score started all tied up at 2-2 and I thought to myself, “40 minutes of play and what have we to show for it? Neither team is any further ahead than when we started…”
But shortly thereafter I realized how wrong I was. The difference between that moment and 40 minutes prior was the desire. There was something different in the way the players smacked the puck and checked their opponents, something reckless that I can only describe as a hunger. In the stands, the initial excitement worn to passive observation was awakening into something more tense as well. It was anybody’s game and the hope of victory fueled our hunger.
Hunger increases with the anticipation of fufillment. Hunger is a powerful force that God blesses us with, catching up the impartial witness. Its fueled by God’s promises of eminent revival and by the small victories in a day. But Satan veils the feast, darkens the scoreboard and steals our hope.
I reject hollow complacency in ministry. God is so near and the fields really are white for harvest. We’re in the final two minutes of the game, and victory is ours. I will seek out your evidences of grace because I want to stay hungry. Share your snacks with me!
