Hunger and Purpose...
August 2009
In the middle of last month I was lucky enough to have spent some time at the Mid-Wales Birds of Prey Centre on a special photography day as a birthday present from my family. The weather was very blustery and quite wet, with some sunny, calmer spots throughout the day, but along with the other eleven photographers I was suitably attired with head-to-toe waterproofs. Which is more than can be said for the birds of prey. These beautiful birds can often be fairly lazy and can also be extremely stubborn. They will only fly if there is a good reason or purpose to fly, usually when they are hungry and there is a need to hunt for some food. Throughout the day the falconers were trying to get the birds to fly in often windy and wet conditions in the breathtaking rolling Welsh countryside, but often the birds decided, ‘Thanks, but no thanks!' Two things were lacking - hunger and purpose. It seemed that the birds were just not hungry enough to perform in such challenging weather conditions, they'd probably already been fed sufficiently and the treats they were offered to perform just weren't enough to work that hard. They also probably knew that their next meal was just a couple of hours away so they had no real purpose in having to perform for the twelve of us pointing our cameras at them in the wind and the rain.
To be honest, I don't blame them, because I too need these two things in order to do my best. I too need hunger and purpose.
What is it that you currently have a hunger for? What do you understand as being your purpose at this time in your life?
If we are disciples of Jesus, then our hunger and our purpose will be to know Him and make Him known.
There are so many people who are searching and longing to feed their spiritual hunger and desperate to understand what their purpose in life is. Many are being ‘fed' in other ways and their sense of purpose is being channelled more and more into serving self, which ultimately will leave them even less satisfied.
Do you hunger to know Jesus in a deeper and more real way? Do you long for the peace that passes all understanding? Do you yearn for the simplicity of life and tranquillity of mind that comes from a deep faith soaked in time spent in the presence of God? This is real hunger.
Do you feel that you need to share all of this with others? This is real purpose.
Our hunger and our purpose needs to be centred on Jesus and not on feeding our own lives with yet more distracting ‘stuff'. When we do this we will then be more able to discern what the things of our lives are that need to be fed and nurtured. When we discover our true hunger, then we will also discover our true purpose - to know Jesus and to make Him known.
Paul
© Copyright Hatfield Church / Tim Sweed 2008