Devotional: Happy Are The Starving
The road to happiness is hunger. That’s what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6. Hunger makes us want to seek, acquire and consume food. But that dire need for replenishment can make us reach for things we don’t need, or worse, things that are harmful. The same goes for our spiritual hunger. The reason people are so unhappy is that they have an appetite for all the wrong things. We often want the blessings of God without hungering for the things of God. Our hunger for God draws out the best in God and He satisfies our heart and soul completely. Our satisfaction in God enables us to feed others who are starving for God, which increases our satisfaction and joy. When we are hungry for Him, God helps us provide a feast for others.
Questions For Meditation
- Starvation and hunger is your body’s way of telling you that you are in dire need of replenishment. Is it good to be hungry or starving for God? Why?
- Are there things in your life that suppress your appetite for God or make your hunger for God go away? What are you missing out on when you hunger and fill yourself up with the wrong things?
- Do you think your appetite for __________ (fill in the blank: beauty, attention, love, respect, lust, substances, affirmation, vengeance, career, reputation, etc.) reveals a deeper longing and hunger for God? Why do you hunger for those things?
- Is there a difference between hungering for God himself and having an appetite only for his gifts?
- Read and reflect on John 4:34. What food do you turn to when you get an appetite for ________ (fill in the blank). What food does your soul need most?
- Hunger makes you uncomfortable. Jesus experienced a complete, painful discomfort and rejection so that you can have a seat at His table. Will you renounce your spiritual junk food and go to Christ to forgive your sinful appetites and satisfy you with himself?
- Why does being hungry for God enable you to serve and feed others? Why does serving others make you so happy and satisfied in God?