The Ends of Spiritual Hunger

by Greg Wood

Are you spiritually weary? Does it seem as if you are in a desert of emptiness? Is there a hunger inside of you that longs to be satisfied by the One who is really able to provide for His creation? 

Perhaps you recognize your hunger and thirst because you’ve been in a far different place before. You’ve been more enraptured by the Lord Jesus. When you looked at Him in His word it brought you that promised supply of eternal life through daily bread. 

Brother or sister, if that is you, I have been right there where you are - recently even! It really is not unusual, but it sure is unpleasant. It seems to be expected that in this life we will have these troubles, longings for God, until the New Heavens and Earth (Rev. 22:17). But, I want to share good news with you. There are seasons in life that don’t last forever. As redeemed children of God, we have a wonderful future with Christ Jesus our Lord!

What can we know about these seasons? What is God doing in the midst of these seasons? We can learn a lot about God’s purposes by looking at what God wrote about His discipline in Hebrews 12. 

A Season of Discipline - Lay Aside Worldly Weights

In Hebrews 12, the author is focused on encouraging his audience to run their race (i.e., live life) with endurance. He writes that we should look to Jesus not only as an example of one pursuing a godly joy, but as the One who is Himself the ends (i.e. goal) of our striving.  In other words, we are running toward Jesus because the good news is we will have unhindered covenant fellowship with Him forever! 

And yet, His journey was not without trial and need for endurance. He had to shed his own blood (12:4) to complete His race. How then could we expect that our race would be easy? How could we become more like Jesus without having to endure?

Hebrews 12:6 then says, “6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  

This discipline of the Lord is designed to help us set aside every weight that hinders our race, and help us gain something much better! We are to get serious about pursuing the goal, which is a person - Jesus Himself! Discipline helps grow us not only in Christ-likeness, but in fellowship with God. It is much like the picture Jesus gave of Himself as the vine and the Father as the vinedresser (John 15:1-2) who prunes fruitful branches, taking away the parts that hinder more fruit. As we abide in Christ (fellowship with Him by the Spirit who abides in us), we get our goal. For now that is in part, because we still need pruning. But in the new Heavens and Earth, we get that full fellowship in a full and unhindered portion!

The goal of God’s discipline is better fellowship and communion with God, which is assisted by more Christ-likeness in us. That Christ-likeness will mean more joy for us in that fellowship with the Lord, and it will mean more glory for the Father as His gracious work of redemption and reconciliation is displayed.

Help for the Weary Traveler

So, what can the Spirit-indwelt child of God do who is weary, thirsty, hungry, or alone? My main encouragement is this:  Pursue Jesus and His fellowship. Pursue Jesus as the one who is better - better than the life we have apart from Him. 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

Practically, how does this happen for us? Get around His people who will help you walk with Him. Ask Him to supply all of what you have sensed you are missing spiritually. Ask Him to bring about Christ-likeness in you, and for the Father to prune away the worldly / fleshly things that hinder His fellowship.

In other words, remember the ways He has given us to partake of His grace and fellowship. Sometimes these are called means of grace, and other times they are called spiritual disciplines. 

Let me provide you with a great picture of this from Rankin Wilbourne:

A few years ago, our family took a vacation near Lake Michigan. The beachfront had these small two-person sailboats you could rent. How hard could it be? I wondered. I put the boat in the water and fiddled with the ropes and sail. Twenty minutes later, the boat and I were still only a few feet from shore, and I hoped anyone watching would assume my red face was just sunburned. At last, the teenager at the rental stand took pity and gave me an impromptu sailing lesson.

It did get me thinking about what makes a sailboat move. Is it the skill of the sailor? Certainly skill makes a difference, as I learned that day. But no matter how knowledgeable or determined the sailor might be, he needs something else, something he has no control over: the wind. If there is no wind, his boat will not move.

At the same time, the wind can be blowing fiercely without your boat moving, or at least not moving in the direction you’d prefer. You can be stuck, your sail haplessly flapping. Or you can be tossed to and fro by the waves. You can even capsize (which I did later that day, in the middle of the bay).

For you to move, and move in the right direction, certain skills need to be learned and put into practice. Moreover, you’ll not be able to enjoy the experience of sailing until those skills have become so internalized that you’re not even thinking about them. You’ve practiced them so much they’ve become second nature. Then you’re not thinking about sailing—you’re sailing!

Though sailing might be unfamiliar to many of us, it’s a good metaphor for our life with God. No matter how determined we might be, we can’t change our hearts at the deepest level nor move ourselves forward. No amount of knowledge or grit will avail. We are always dependent on a power outside of ourselves. We need the wind. Without the wind, there is no movement. And as Jesus reminds us, “the wind blows where it wishes” (John 3:8).

Yet at the same time, we are not passive observers. We can’t control the wind, but we can catch it. And in order to catch the wind, you have to draw the sail. And in order to draw the sail, certain God-given, time-honored skills need to be learned and put into practice. Otherwise, even if the wind is blowing fiercely, you can be stuck or tossed by the waves (Eph. 4:14) or even “suffer shipwreck” (see 1 Tim. 1:19 NIV).

- Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God

Brothers and sisters, catch the wind! Draw the sails of His means of grace!

A Caution

I want to urge you to keep in mind that the primary goal. It is not that we do more things for God. That just causes more weariness, emptiness, hunger, and thirst. The primary goal is that we have life with God. Do you see the difference? How does a branch bear fruit? Can it do so by mustering up its strength as it lies on the ground? No! It must be connected to the vine - the source of its life. You and I, apart from abiding in the life-giving presence of the Spirit of God, can not do anything to produce true fruit. But when we remain in Him, in communion and fellowship, we can bear great fruit.

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:3-4)