Satisfaction

Yesterday I wrote down these words as I was driving into work: God
will satisfy the hunger. As I pondered this statement, I thought
about people who believe in God, but whose faith is not as strong as
it ought to be or as they would like it to be. I also thought of those
who allow the things of life to crowd out the sense of closeness to
God. I soon found myself confessing to God about this--I don*t rely on
feelings a lot, but they can be extremely helpful from time to time.
 
When I ask myself the question, "What would I have the Lord do for
me?" I am tempted to think in terms of magic: Make me this or make me
that...  just do it so I don't have to work at it. But when I believe
I'll have to work at it to become what I think I ought to be, or to
get what I think I want, I back off my request and say, "Let me think
about this for a while."
 
A friend of mine says many people see God as someone who provides
food, clothing, and shelter. If they're not getting what they consider
to be comfortable amounts of these basics, then God must be mad at
them; punishing them, or gently reminding them that they haven't
been properly attentive to Him.
 
It is not a natural thing to hold a relationship with another being
that you cannot see-whom you must experience through faith. Yet it
becomes more and more natural as our spiritual nature matures and our
fleshly nature is denied. The hungering in my mind for something
deeper tells me that there is a lot more to life than food, clothing,
and shelter that will only be dispensed if we push the right buttons
in God's rat maze.
 
If I know my catechism, the chief end of man is to "glorify God and
enjoy Him forever." This seems to mean that we are called to
participate in a relationship with Him, and to express our thanks
for the gifts of life He provides. But we sometimes find ourselves
saying (by our actions rather than our words) "This is mine now-that
is yours."
 
In the archetypal marriage we witness a unity of persons in
relationship.  God created us for just this kind of kinship with
Him-to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever in an intimate, unified
relationship. It is difficult to be intimate with someone based on a
system of reward and punishment. These may be artifacts of the nature
of our relationship with God, but to last it must go much deeper than
that. It must revolve around unity and community (co-unity-basking in
the presence of the one we love). It is here that we move from "fire
escape" conversion to devotion and gratitude for the love and comfort
we have received.
 
God will satisfy the hunger, but Hebrews 11:6 says that He will
satisfy only those who are in earnest; not merely the casual
seeker. Those who look for magic will likely find their hunger
remains. But those who hunger and thirst for a loving, unified
relationship with God will find themselves deeply satisfied.