I pray this morning, asking God why in troubled times does He allow some to go through struggles. He responded to me, ‘My son, I allow you to go hungry that I may feed you.”
Ever been in the dark night? Why would God allow any of His children, especially if He is the Loving Father we are told He is? It just doesn’t make sense from our human mind. For man, we believe the only way a father is a good father is if he hugs and adores his kids and gives them all kinds of gifts. A dad who withholds his love or gifts from his kids is thought of as abusive…and especially so if he punishes them.
But, God is the best of fathers. Everything He is is what a father is built upon.
God’s love is beyond any human understanding. He knows that fasting at the level of a ‘dark night’ makes the soul crave much more. That is when He steps in, when the soul is empty, famished and craving for something, He steps in to feed the soul with Himself.
Every person in the world wants to know what will make him or her happy. We’re all desperately seeking for the person, place, or thing that will meet our expectations, needs, and wants. What will truly satisfy the desires of our heart?
Only God can satisfy the hungry heart.
When I went into my dark night, I was seeking worldly answers and responses. I wanted ‘signs’. I needed peace in my heart and healing for my daughter. I had spent months begging God for a worldly response, becoming more restless with each prayer.
Then, God stepped away, dramatically so. He made it quickly apparent that He was not present or near. After several months of fighting through on my own, of being fasted from God, I was starving. I knew my soul was empty, missing something so much needed. That is when God stepped back in. He satisfied my hunger.
It was in this dark night and ‘fasting’ that my head, heart and soul aligned to focus upon God. To focus on God with a truth of trust. I came to see that nothing the world offers, good, bad or ugly, Will ever take away the desperate desire for God.
Seek God. Seek to feast upon the presence of God and His satisfying love and mercy.