Desperately Hungry

          The responsibilities of our life together, what we call Church, have often been taught as unromantic; it is disciplined obedience to the Great Commission. Whether or not it is teaching Sunday School, helping in the nursery, greeting at the front door, serving coffee to guests, making or bringing meals, giving our time, energy and money—it is believed that if we just do our duty, fill our slots, we will be happy—or at least happy if someone else does it for us. It is thought that prayer is too hard, feelings are irrelevant, and getting the job done is the only thing that counts. Many Christians believe that we don't need spiritual experience to proclaim the Gospel, so they have no expectation of God’s immediate presence with us; there is no sense that intimacy with God is normal. As a result, much of the church today can function without His manifest Presence.
          The prophet says this, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) We've gone through enough of the junk of life to know that without actually finding God, we cannot do, or hope to do, any ministry. We believe that God meets our desperation—if we have not found God then we have not sought him with all our hearts. That is part of what God is doing; He is driving us into His arms through divine desperation. It is much like what Moses says in Deuteronomy: “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Deuteronomy 8:3 (NIV)
          Lord, make us desperate with hunger, then feed us with the only bread that satisfies…Your Son, Jesus Christ.
-Pastor Dino Griffin