Hunger

This weekend at church, our pastor gave a great illustration that I wanted to share. He talked about how every person was created with a God-shaped void in their heart. One can never be truly happy, joyful or fulfilled until that void is filled. And the thing is that it can only be filled with one thing, one Person.

He then gave the illustration of being physically hungry. When you are hungry, you often want or crave a certain thing. When you go to the pantry or fridge to get that certain snack, and find that it is not there, you will devour anything you can find. Well, when that doesn't hit the spot, you will move onto something else, until something satisfies that hunger. Often going through ice cream, chips, cookies etc, when what you really want is just some chocolate.



The same is true in our relationship with God. We all have a desire to know God, to be in communion with God. Many times we don't know what it is that we need to satisfy that hunger or need, so we go through all sorts of things to try and fill that void. We may try relationships/friendships, certain sports, alcohol, drugs, distractions such as television/movies/internet, our spouses, and dare I say, our children and our roles as "mommy".

All of that stuff may make us happy for a season, or make us think we are happy. Some of those things listed above are extremely important in our lives. But the truth is that one day those things, those relationships, those roles that we play will bring us heartache, or disappointment. Until we find complete satisfaction, joy and contentment in Jesus, we will always be at the pantry looking for the next "snack" to devour. Until we learn that our joy, contentment, and fullness are not dependant on our circumstances and those around us, but on our awesome, unchanging Heavenly Father, we will continue to search for that missing piece, trying in vain to fill it on our own with temporary, earthly things.

So what/who are you holding on to today? What/who are you relying on to bring you happiness? What/Who is satisfying you today?