I have no idea what its like to go hungry. I’ve been hungry before, and I’ve participated in the thirty-hour famine, but I have no concept what its like not to know where your next meal is coming from or to be deprived of all nutrients. It is just not a part of my life experience and the helplessness that comes with that depravity is difficult to relate to. However, despite the difficulty in a physical sense, I have a better grasp of what it is like in a spiritual sense. If I was a medical student or had the inclination to spend more time on the subject, I would fill this page with a description of what the body does during a time of starvation. From the initial pangs of hunger, to the body’s ability to disregard the initial impulse and sustain itself, to the eventual turning on its own members, I think the parallels to the spiritual realm would be significant. We experience the need for spiritual food and if we don’t get it, we can fool ourselves into thinking we are o.k. without it. Eventually this self-deception causes us to do things that spite ourselves because our hunger has no other outlet. Regardless of the growing obesity numbers in America, there is still plenty of lack. There is a lack for spiritual nourishment and truth. Unfortunately many choose to remain in their state of need rather than accept the One who can satisfy.
Seeing God’s Beauty
In his song “Better is One Day”, Matt Redman writes “One thing I ask and I would seek to see Your beauty, to find You in the place Your glory dwells.” The song, taken from Psalm 84, extols the goodness of residing with our Heavenly Father. Countless times I’ve sand the words without pondering what they meant. This weekend, I did. And what I settled upon was this – if we were able to see God’s beauty, I don’t think we could comprehend it. Additionally, seeing someone’s beauty is usually about seeing their face, and in God’s case, that would lead to our immediate removal from this planet (Exodus 33:20) which I doubt is what the thousands of congregants who sing this song intend. However, although we can’t see God’s face this side of heaven, we can see the impact of His glory. In fact, we can be instruments of its administration by reflecting His love, sharing His grace, and demonstrating His mercy. It’s through or act of worship that His beauty is revealed because its in these acts that we most reflect Him.