Those who have been most used of God globally over the centuries (not
necessarily those who are well-known, but more so the obscure who made
dynamic impact) have been those who knew the secret of continuously
cultivating a hunger and thirst for the Living God over a lifetime. It
cannot be something we seek to possess at a certain stage in life and
then leave alone as we get older as we go on in our life as a servant
of God. God won't allow this! It is ongoing and should be
exponentially growing day by day and week by week. Remember, we are
not to base or measure our level of hunger for God on our feelings,
which can grossly deceive us. Just as a side-note, how many of us have
a plan for knowing God and His word more intimately in 5, 10, and 15
years down the road. I know so many who are in the same place with God
they were 10 years ago. They haven't moved on in God and I believe
this is a travesty!
To cultivate a hunger and thirst for God is to recognize and
proactively work against the tendency of our own hearts to plateau and
to think that we've got a corner on who God is and thus don't need to
seek Him anymore. We all have gone through feeling this arrogance at
times. When I hear believers refer to these things in a subtle way, I
want to shout to them, "No! You're missing it! There is so much of God
to know that we could live a thousand lifetimes and still not come
into the fullness of seeing Him for who He is." God has so many facets
to His character and His personality. Haven't you realized how you can
read the same passage fifty times in the Bible and come away with a
new nugget of truth each time? This is the mystery of God and His
Word, there is so much depth to Him!
The beatitudes in Matthew 5 open up for us some of the prerequisites
of thirsting for God. Jesus was seeking to communicate to His
followers, (my paraphrase) "Hey, if you guys will adopt these traits
into the core of your beings, you will receive the favor and pleasure
of God." To cultivate a hunger and thirst for God is to daily move
closer to the ideal of these sayings. We will fail, and when we do, we
repent, receive His forgiveness and continue to climb the hill. Over
time we will come to realize how these traits are no longer burdensome
and laborious to pursue, but a source of deep joy as we relate with
others and God, all because our hearts sought to align ourselves with
His. In vs. 8, we hear the call to a pure heart which is the central
key to seeing God. For those who hunger and thirst for God this is the
prize they are pursuing. Holiness is the predecessor. As we purify our
hearts and allow the Spirit to put His finger on any area He chooses,
we are preparing ourselves to see God for who He is and are
cultivating lasting hunger and thirst for Him.
To cultivate hunger and thirst we must receive, by revelation of the
Holy Spirit, a real and deep understanding of the way God sees us.
Once we see how He views us, we can in turn choose to lavish love back
upon Him. Why would we love someone we thought was always mad at us,
or someone who we could never, ever please no matter how hard we try,
or someone that wants to make us do something with our lives that we
don't want to do? Many of us hold gross misunderstandings related to
the way God views us that are hindering our ability to love Him with a
full heart.
We love because God first loved us. We love Jesus because of a deep
awareness not in our heads but in our hearts of the incredible heart
and fiery passion with which He is consumed for each of us, as those
He created and for whom He died. He is turned upside down with joy and
gladness when He thinks of us, which He does constantly! Since the
foundation of the world, He has known us, been ravished with affection
over us, and desired the day when He could have deep and intense
intimacy with us as we respond to His love. To the human mind this is
incomprehensible, which is why God must reveal it to our hearts and
spirits.
David is our example of this lifestyle. Here was a man who had more
sin in his life then most of us realize. He was a broken man, who was
prone to run from God, to compromise, and to blatantly sin and bring
harm on many of his people. When we look deeply at the life of David
we can say with all honesty, "If God can make him into a person after
His own heart, there is hope for me!" David's failings, yet incredible
heights which he attained with God should encourage us. The secret was
that no matter how far he fell, he knew (was absolutely assured) that
God loved him and deep down he knew he loved God as well. You see
these emotions and his ups and downs in his writings throughout the
Psalms.
Another principle we see from David's life that helps us was his
ability to go through seasons of adversity (serious adversity in his
case) and see God in the midst of them. Many of these hardships he
brought on himself and yet God, in His mercy, used them to teach David
about His ways and His love. Do we see hardships as simply hardships
or can we see the fingerprints of God in the rough times? Let me
assure you, He is there in the midst of your pain and even your bad
decisions and He is desiring to show you what He is doing and how He
wants to mature and grow you, if you will but surrender and listen.
One of the most important principles to learn at a young age is how to
see God in the midst of adversity. When our hearts perceive how He is
working in the midst of serious hardship, we are beckoned to love Him
deeper and shout, "Wow! You really saw my struggle and were in the
middle of it. I love you for how you love me!". An experience like
this opens our hearts in adoration and worship, and deepens our trust
in Him.
Lastly, I would be amiss not to highlight the fact that God desires to
stir us onward through spiritual books. Many in this generation do not
like to read. We should not accept this and instead embrace that God
desires to use reading to expand our understanding of Himself. This is
what books do for us. The types of books I recommend are those which
deal with our spirituality, which can boost your spirit to soar,
cultivating hunger and thirst for God. Biographies are always an
encouragement as we see spiritual principles alive in other people's
lives and they provide an example to follow.
Some Recommended Books:
The Journals of Jim Elliot by Elisabeth Elliot
Learning To Love People You Don't Like by Floyd McClung
Victory in Adversity by R. Edward Miller
More To Be Desired Than Gold by Christy Wilson
Fire On The Horizon by Winkie Pratney
Intimate Friendship With God by Joy Dawson
Amazing Faith – The Life Story of Bill Bright by Michael Richardson
These should all be available at Amazon and other on-line booksellers.
