Something more ...

"And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know it, so that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of Jehovah man shall live. (Deut 8:3 MKJV)"

Every now and then, a sense of deep disatisfaction comes upon me. It hits at the moments I least expect. Perhaps on the way home from work after the rush of the day is over, or in the stillness of the few quiet moments just before bedtime. Sometimes it even comes in the midst of being surrounded with friends.

What is it with life that makes us want something more? And what exactly do we want?

At times when there is great need, it is easy to think that we want those needs met. If only the problems go away... If only I feel better... Yet even when things DO get better, still, the lingering sense of there must be something more ...

"And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger..."

Could it be that perhaps the hunger is allowed to open our eyes to a deeper hunger?

"And He fed you with manna..."

In Jesus' day, the Jews were equally distracted by their physical hunger and Jesus' ability to feed that need (with the five loaves and two fish - John 6:1-59). He was not impressed at the lengths the crowd went to seek Him, rather reminded them not to seek Him because they ate the loaves and were filled, but to come to Jesus, the true bread ("manna") from heaven.

I wonder how often I miss the point.

"Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God"

The truth of this verse is more powerful than just a statement of God's ability to speak into being the answers to our needs (although He is more than capable of doing so!). Rather, God allows us the sense of hunger to help us realise our life was created and is being sustained by Him. The Word of God came down in flesh (John 1:14) as the true bread sent from heaven to bring life (John 6:33). He is our life! (Col 3:4)

How often we forget that life is more than the things we can see and touch around us. That everything in this universe is being held together by One so great and so awesome, yet so personal that He's waiting for you and me. And He calls to us in many different ways. And when life overwhelms, and even when things are going just fine, we can also say, just as Jesus did in the wilderness, reiterating the words Moses spoke many years before Him, that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4 MKJV) There is more to life than what we perceive ...