Thursday, October 17, 2013

Mistaking the signs

Have you ever stood at the open fridge door at midnight, looking for a snack and realised that while food would be great... what you are really feeling is tired? They say people who drink more water during the day eat less than those who don't because people often mistake thirst for hunger. We mistake boredom for hunger too. We mistake lots of things for hunger... sometimes anger or pain... loneliness ... probably just about any uncomfortable feeling. You can trust me on this... fat girls know this stuff. :-P We also know that the thing we've chosen instead of the thing we need... doesn't satisfy us for long.

I was reading 1 Peter 2 where things of the spirit are compared to baby milk. And while, much like being called "God's daughter", being called a "baby Christian" irks me... it was something else about the verses that I settled on.

Depending on the version, we are told to "crave" or "desire" things of the spirit.

We are to seek Him (Deut 4:29), seek Him diligently (Prov 8:17),

Elsewhere in the Bible, we are told that our soul should yearn for God the way a dear yearns for water.

We are to
   call upon him
      return to him
         draw near to him

Psalms 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.      

What things have I really been craving lately? What have I really been desiring? Am I just standing in front of an open fridge at midnight, ignoring the real signs?

When I start to feel that emptiness that I talked about a few posts ago, or when I'm lonely, or when I'm scared or sad or frustrated... what if it isn't just me and my issues, trying to make it through another day? Is it possible I'm just mistaking my soul's desperate need for God to take control of some area of my life with my own daily struggle?

I know all too well that I can sate any desire for a moment if I convince myself that what I really crave is something else... So for how long am I going to let the enemy convince me that the cravings, desires, thirsts, that I have are for things of this world, when I can clearly see that choosing to satisfy any hunger I have with God is the way to true satisfaction?

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