“It just takes a tiny hunger pain for God to step in” (Paula Nilsen).
After moving from a house to an apartment, I quickly learned that if I wanted to get any rest at all, I had to find a way to muffle the noise from the tenants above, and from the busy street beyond my window. Turns out, there’s a free app for that called White Noise. My favorite setting is “Airplane Travel.” When I’m in that strange place between being awake and asleep, I find myself dreamily traveling across continents, to places I’ve never been, and places I have been, with the whirr of a jet engine in the background.
Intensify a Longing for God by Fasting
One afternoon, I was in need of a nap. My usual
It wasn’t the noise from the neighbors above, or the hum of traffic outdoors, or the jet engines that awoke me. I didn’t wake up in my usual way, eyes slowly opening, with that feeling that everything is right in the world; I woke startled. It was as though someone was yelling at me, from the pit of my stomach.
It took me a moment to realize what I was experiencing, hunger pains like no other, quite unaccustomed to me. Daily I eat breakfast, never forgetting lunch, and dinner is something ingrained in my mind (by my mother,) and served every day–a vegetable, a starch, and meat. I never stress over my next meal.
Food is in abundance in my life. I never wake up hungry. It’s not the case for the children I began to think about, the ones for whom the kingdom of God belongs to. (See Luke 18:16).
I lay there thinking about the hungry children of the world, who truly do not know where their next meal will come from, who do not know these wonderful words of Jesus, who have never heard of Jesus.
Be the Hands of Feet of Jesus to the Hungry
Contemplating hunger, feeling that pain in the pit of their stomachs is a way of life for many. This moved me to tears, sorrowing over these children, some even in my own church who ride the bus every Wednesday night, who often come hungry, without clothing fit for Minnesota winters. I saw some hungry children last night at church. I also saw Jesus. He was short. He was tall, a volunteer, who looked just like my brothers and sisters in the Lord.
What God Asks
I was reminded of a song I fell in love with when I was a young girl. I do not know where it originates.
The chorus goes like this: Is there anything I can do for you? Anything I can do? For all the things you’ve done for me, is there anything I can do?
And then it alternates with “go”: Is there anywhere I can go for you? Anywhere I can go? For all the places you’ve been for me, is there anywhere I can go?
Doing and going–He asks. It’s really not much.
How can you “do” and “go?”
- Volunteer at a Ronald McDonald House. They will allow you to cook a meal for the residents.
- Smile and say “hello” to someone who looks different from you, a refugee maybe. Ask about their day.
- Pass along your favorite book.
- Create a desire for God. It just takes a tiny hunger pain for God to step in. (See Matthew 5:6).
I’m thankful for the lesson that came with my catnap. I just may take another today.