INDUBITABLY
In a way, hunger means knowing we want something. An orange, maybe. Or pickles. But we can also hunger for many sorts of things besides food—love, freedom, understanding, prestige, security, time... we want a lot of things. Whatever we hunger for, if we find it, we know we’ve found it—because the hunger dissipates. Having received exactly what we wanted, relief comes—and fulfillment.
But what about our spiritual hungers? Most of us have felt the longing to know why we are here—to know whether our lives have any purpose. At times, we’ve asked life’s hard questions: Does God exist? What happens when we die? Is truth a matter of opinion—or is truth absolute? If God does exist, why all this pain? We hunger and thirst to know. And if this appetite goes unsatisfied for a long time, we can begin to fear that what we desire simply does not exist. This is a sickening, disorienting feeling—doubt. We feel sure that life really must have a meaning, while at the same time feeling distressed because life appears so meaningless. Doubt is a drought—hope dries up; parched, empty hearts remain.
Faith would quench this thirsting. When doubt dries us out, what we’re missing—is God:
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God.” -Sons of Korah
We have souls! Thirsty souls. Hungry souls. Our souls hunger and thirst for spiritual life, just as our bodies do for physical life. Paul often referred to his body as a tent—a temporary place for his soul to dwell. Hear how his heart swells with spiritual hunger:
“If our earthly tent is torn down, we have a building from God, not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. In this tent we groan, being burdened, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven.” -Paul
Our earthly body is only a makeshift home—one where we are burdened with many heavenly longings. The final, full, and complete satisfaction of our spiritual desires is still to come:
“We groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved. If we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” -Paul
Our salvation is “in hope”—we have not yet been clothed with “our dwelling from heaven.” Since we do not see it now, we can only know it by faith. Being fully confident in our future redemption, salvation, and new life gives us that hope—and enables us to persevere until the hope is fulfilled.
But faith can slip, no matter who you are. A prophet called John the Baptist ministered in Israel for a time just before Jesus became publicly known. John the Baptist urged everyone to prepare the way of the Lord, and declared Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Later, though, John angered some ruling officials and was thrown into prison. His confidence in Jesus seems to have been really shaken—from prison, he sends a couple friends to ask Jesus a heartrending question:
“Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for someone else?” -John the Baptist
The ancient prophets had foretold of the Messiah (the Christ, the Coming One) as a King who would establish righteousness and rule forever. But the old prophecies also spoke, just as often, of the Messiah suffering. No one understood that the “Coming One” was going to come at first as a sacrifice for sins—and that only later would He return to reign.
From John’s perspective in the prison, Jesus did not appear to be bringing about any sort of “kingdom.” No army, no influence—nothing! Not long before, John had prophetically proclaimed that Jesus would take away the sin of the world. But now, John’s soul withers and groans: What if Jesus isn’t the long-awaited King after all?
Jesus sends back a message of encouragement for this doubting (and therefore hungry) soul:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” -Jesus
Jesus points John to all the Messianic prophecies actively being fulfilled. Healing and restoration. Deliverance. Good news, preached to the poor. Faith, John! Yes, the Messiah is here—don’t waver. Trust that the kingdom is coming, even if you can’t see how.
Likewise, Peter also had a well-known moment of doubt. On a night when the waves and wind were rough, Jesus sent the disciples by boat across the Sea of Galilee. Then, Jesus does something amazing:
“In the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.” -Matthew
The disciples responded like anyone would (in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, in the middle of a lake): they cried out, terrified, and thought He was a ghost. But He spoke to them, telling them to take courage. Peter, a most impulsive individual, immediately blurts out:
“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” -Peter
Jesus says, “Come,” and Peter gets out of the boat and walks toward Jesus—on the water! This astounding moment of faith is brief, though. The sight of the storm grips Peter, and he begins to sink. “Lord, save me!” he cries, just before Jesus grabs him.
“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” -Jesus
As the waves rose, so did the doubts. But what did Peter (of little faith) hunger for? Do you see it? Even when the doubts came flooding over, and the deep began to take him, Peter cried out to Jesus. And this hunger for Himself, Jesus will always fulfill—without a doubt.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and filled the hungry soul with good.” -Psalms