Hunger Filled

It is possible to be hungry yet filled? If one is filled, does that mean that she cannot experience hunger at the same time?

I've been hungry lately. And I have been filled. But I am still hungry. Is that okay? It seems to have been okay for Jesus. Let's take a look at something that struck me this morning during a casual reading of Luke in the Bible.

At the beginning of Luke 4, we are told that "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."

Two things stick out at me. The first is that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit BEFORE going into the desert. It's almost as if he went there not to get filled but because he WAS filled. As Bill Johnson said not too long ago, it was as if Jesus going into the desert was a way of testing what was already in him, just like putting a patched tire under water to prove its ability to hold up (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) So as I have been in this desert season, I am encouraged to realize that maybe one of the reasons I'm in this sandy place is for the Spirit to show how much of himself is already in me, giving me an opportunity to experience this reality of his presence even more so.

But here's the other part that interests me. Jesus was hungry at the end of his time in the desert. He was hungry physically, and I wonder...could he have been hungry spiritually as well? Is it possible to be so filled by God and by good things yet to still be hungry for more? Is it okay that I am experiencing more of God's provision and episodes of deeper intimacy in this desert yet still longing for more romance and validation?

Once again...Jesus was hungry. He hadn't eaten, he felt that hunger, and that was okay. I sense Jesus saying, "You know, you're hungry. And that's okay. I'm with you in that." Just because one is hungry doesn't mean there's some spiritual or even physical deficiency. Jesus actually commends hunger, at least spiritually speaking. As he was teaching his disciples on a hilltop one day, Jesus said,
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." -Luke 6:20-23

Whether you take these statements to refer to physical needs (poor = little money) or spiritual needs (poor = spiritually poor, as one of the other Gospel writers recorded), Jesus seems to be saying something very definitive: To be in a place of unmet desire, for some portion of your life, is a natural thing, and God actually says it's a place of blessing. Why? I don't have the full answer for that, but I think part of it has to do with the statement, "you will be satisfied." The desire will be met in some way, whether sooner or later. And in this passage, it actually looks like Jesus hits on some very basic and important needs we all have materially, bodily, spiritually, emotionally, relationally. It's all there.

I think what encourages me the most is this realization that Jesus was hungry. Legitimately hungry...And this in the midst of what many of us see as a spiritual peak.

I thought I was getting it wrong here in the desert, since I want to be filled by God yet I'm still hungry. I see now that I'm right where Jesus was at. And I can hear him say, "I'm with you."