Have you ever
been really hungry and tried to satisfy your hunger with snacks or desserts
instead of a meal? It didn’t really fill you up, did it? Did you know that this
is similar when it comes to our hearts? When we leave our hearts hungry because
we are feeding ourselves the sugar of the world instead of the meat and
potatoes of Scripture, we are never satisfied. There is always a deeper longing
that can’t be touched by anything in this world. But when we run to Jesus, He
satisfies us to deepest parts of our hearts and gives us joy and peace like nothing
we could even begin to imagine. For, as the Psalmist prayed, “you make known to me the path of life; in
your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures
forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
A far cry from
David’s prayer, in today’s day and age, there is much besides Jesus that
promises to fulfill our heart-hunger. We long for something to fill us and
everywhere we turn, we hear, “I’ll make you happy!” or “I’ll fulfill you!” It
could be movies, internet, food, social media, relationships, music…you name
it. While often these things are harmless (but they can be devastating to us),
they don’t satisfy our hearts. We will always want more and more and more, and we
will never be fulfilled.
I have left my
heart hungry for God so often, when I could have ran to the place from where
true satisfaction comes. Although I always know that I need to be filled with the
Lord rather than the things of this world, I ignore the call to what really
satisfies and seek to fill myself with things that don’t satisfy my heart. But
God’s working on me, just as He is working on you.
One evening I
specifically remember wanting to read a novel instead of God’s Word. I was
torn, for I knew that my heart was hungry for the Lord, but I really wanted to
find out what happened next in the story! Only by His grace did I take my Bible
off my nightstand. I haven’t always had such self-control. Even tonight it was
so tempting to sit down in the living room and watch a movie instead of going
to my room, lying on my bed, and opening my Bible.
To let you peer
into my journal, here’s what I wrote this evening: “This is where I need to
be…I didn’t want to come at first. A movie sounded more inviting. But now that
I’m here, I know this is right. I do want to be with my Jesus.” It may be hard
to come away to be with Him, but when I do, I realize that I was so wrong to
want anything beside Him, for nothing and no one in this world can ever satisfy
the way Jesus does. He is so wonderful and He fulfills our heart-hunger to the
uttermost, leaving no part of our hearts empty.
Psalm 107:9
says, “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the
hungry soul he fills with good
things.” Longings and hunger are satisfied and filled forever in the Lord
and only in Him. He fills us with His “good things”, which are beyond our imagination
and better than anything this world could offer. “You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing”
(Psalm 145:16). This verse captures the reality that God has the power to
satisfy us in His hand. As we come and seek the fulfillment and the
satisfaction that can be found only in Him, our hearts won’t be hungry anymore.
“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord
lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10). Isn’t that amazing? We will “lack no
good thing”! What an incredible God we serve. He is the ultimate satisfier of
our hearts. “For I will satisfy the weary
soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish” (Jeremiah 31:25).
Is your heart
hungry today? Are you longing for more out of life than a hungry heart that is
never satisfied? Then, come with me to Jesus, the One who fulfills the hunger
of our hearts. We don’t have to be hungry. We just need to come to our Lord and
seek Him. He will fulfill the desires of our heart. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your
heart” (Psalm 37:4).
“Jesus said to them, “I am
the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me
shall never thirst.” ~
John 6:35
Learning to be satisfied in Jesus with you,
Christina
Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!
