The Hunger Pains

The other morning I fasted from food because I was becoming aware of my growing selfishness and desire to satisfy my own wants.  God helped make me aware of the correlating growth of my spiritual hunger as I fed my fleshly nature more and more, putting my wants above his desires for my life.  (I say this because there are different reasons to fast and specifically this was my reason for the day) It is so cool the way God can use even the hunger cycles of our body to point us to who He is and the different aspects of our relationship with him. 

Lunch really satisfied my physical hunger, it was delicious- and I for some reason found it very strange as the evening approached that I found myself hungry again.  It was nothing different from my normal “hunger cycle” but for some reason it struck me as strange that after feeling SO satisfied at lunch, my stomach wanted to be fed again.  Reflecting back on the day, starting with my morning fast it hit me how strange it is that it is perfectly normal to feel and respond to my physical hunger multiple times a day- but how far removed I am from the pangs of my spiritual hunger and knowing how often to feed them during the day.  Just giving them a “breakfast-quiet-time” will not sustain my hunger for the day the same way just eating a big breakfast won’t fulfill your spiritual hunger throughout the day.

Spiritual hunger… maybe it manifests itself in different ways than our physical hunger- shortness of temper, harsh words, selfish thoughts? I need to be growing in my knowledge of my spiritual self and life- feeding it all day long as I do my physical self, so that I can recognize those “pangs” consciously so I can be feeding my spirit as I do my body.   “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” –Ephesians 6:12  my physical hunger is not nearly as important as my spiritual hunger- and yet I am much more in tune with it… Hmmmm.

Weathering Weather

Recently it has seemed like so much has been going “wrong” in the lives my family and friends- and all over… from natural disasters, to manmade disasters, to accidents, and on and on.  One benefit is that my prayer time has greatly increased…  I wish it would do that without things having to seem bad however.  It also reminded me of a really cool image of faith God had shown me a month ago having to do with weather.

I think it is so cool when you fly in a plane that no matter what is going on beneath the clouds, as soon as you get above them, it is an absolutely gorgeous day.  From the ground it may be a breezy, crisp clear day or a horrendous thundering-torrential downpour-blizzarding mess- but regardless of what weather system is between us and the sun, above all the clouds is a beautiful sunny day.  I saw this as a blaring reminder of faith- especially in these verses from 2 Corinithians:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

A lot of times it is really easy to focus on what we can see right in front of us- clouds and storms and rain.  They are temporary but can seem like the “end all be all” of things in the moment when you are soaking wet, uncomfortable, without power and hot.  However- we are called to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is UNSEEN… and it is such a great reminder that even when I cannot see the sun and the beautiful day- it is up there.  Just like when things come into my life that make the skies grey and stormy- my sun is still there.  I am fixing my eyes on the sun because the things that float across are temporary, but He is eternal.  It is a beautiful reminder to me in the midst of things- that they will pass and to remember the peace and calm that is lying just above- to fix my eyes above- and it will lead me through my momentary problems.