Satisfying Our Hunger

Over the years, Snickers has put out some memorable videos. Whether it’s Betty White playing football, William Dafoe in a dress as Marilyn Monroe, or Danny Trejo brushing his hair as while portraying Marsha Brady, snickers has had a way of capturing our attention on our hunger. In fact their entire marketing campaign surrounds the idea of hunger.

With slogans like:

- Not going anywhere? Grab a snickers.

- You’re not you when you’re hungry.

- Hunger? Grab a snickers.

- Don’t let hungry happen to you.

- Snickers Satisfies.

They even take it to the next level, putting various different descriptors on the front of their packaging to connect with our immediate emotional state.

Maybe you are a bit:

-Cranky

-Snippy

-Ornery

-Impatient

-Whiny

-Drama Queen

-Princess

Grab a Snickers and satisfy you hunger.

This week, as I sat in my office preparing this message, I got a little hungry. In fact, I may have even become a little Cranky and Whiny. I don’t think I was so hungry I went full drama queen but I was close. But as my hungry grew, I realized a deep truth; I wasn’t myself when I’m hungry.

Anyone ever experience a similar hunger?

I think we all have.

This morning our scripture verse comes from Matthew 5:6

SLIDE #3

- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (NIV)

- God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. (NLT)

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- God blesses those who crave to live a life based only on his standards, his justice, and his ways. Those who live like this are always satisfied. (Humby Version)

What the marketing team for Snickers and God have in common is that they understand to be hungry is to be human. Our stomachs empty over time and we often spend more time looking to satisfy our hunger than we do to question why we are hungry in the first place.

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What we hunger and thirst for drives our lives.

What do I mean? I love food. I love trying and experimenting with new foods. But for me eating has rarely been about satisfying my hunger. It’s usually about satisfying other elements in my life.

Illustration:

When MJ and I first got married, money was tight. But we wanted to enjoy the youthfulness of our lives so at least once a month we’d go out to eat. Desiring to be the good husband, I’d let her choose the restaurant. When it came time to order, she would usually order steak or some other higher end item off the menu. Rather than enjoying the moment, I would offset the cost of the steak with a lower end item off the menu; like a burger. I knew finances were tight. I knew what I could afford. And I wanted to make sure my wife was cared for at the sacrifice of my own satisfaction.

I knew by the look on her face that she enjoyed her meal. Seeing that look was filling and satisfying. For me, I was driven not by the satisfaction of a full stomach but rather a smile on my wife’s face and knowing I provided a little bit of happiness to her life.

For me, I hungered for the approval of my wife. I wanted to impress her. I wanted her to know I could provide for her even with limited funds. I wanted her to know how much I loved her, so I was willing to sacrifice my own desires for her satisfaction.

So, does Snickers really satisfy? I mean does eating a Snickers bar lead to us to never needing to eat again. The word “Satisfy” means to appease or fulfill. But the trouble is when we eat a Snickers, you get hungry again, the hunger returns. And usually, the hunger is greater than before. This is what happens with anything we hunger for. There aren’t enough loaves of bread to bring you true satisfaction in life. There aren’t enough bottles of wine, money in the world, time with your family, and even acceptance from our spouse to satisfy the hungering and thirsting we experience in life. Anything you chase to satisfy your hunger or thirst will eventually stop satisfying you. And when that happens the hunger and thirst return greater than before.

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So how do we satisfy our hunger.

- God blesses those who crave to live a life based only on his standards, his justice, and his ways. Those who live like this are always satisfied. (Humby Version) Matthew 5:6

Simple answer: Satisfaction, Fulfillment comes from living life according to God’s desires and not our own.

True satisfaction doesn’t come from chasing after what we want but rather what God wants.

God want justice. God wants healing. God wants unity. God wants peace. But more than all those things, God wants us to learn to be obedient to HIS leading. He wants to walk with us through all parts of our lives. He wants us to trust him without question. But most of all He wants us to acknowledge HE IS LORD and live according to that acknowledgement.

Trouble is we spend most of our time and resources chasing after something that will never satisfy our hunger or thirst. While God is reaching out to us with outstretched arms saying, come this way, something else catches our attention and draws us away from Him.

John 4

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of living a life that constantly leaves me hungry and thirsty for something. I want to experience true satisfaction in my life, my marriage, my career, my family. I want something more.

Remember the Samaritan woman at the well from John 4.

- Jesus is sitting at a well at noon one day while his disciples go to get something to eat.

- A Samaritian woman shows up to draw water.

- Jesus asks her for a drink

- She starts asking questions

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- Jesus responds, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (vs 13-14)

- She responds, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (vs 15)

o She missed the point. True satisfaction didn’t come from what we put into our stomach. It came from God working on our heart.

o Often, I find myself like this woman, trapped in the loop of being hungry and thirsty for something and focusing on things that temporarily satisfy my hunger.

o But the answer is right in front of us the whole time. True satisfaction of our hunger and thirst MUST COME FROM GOD himself.

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- Its amazing what happens next. Once the lightbulb comes on for her, her life is changed forever.

o John 4:39-42 (NIV)

§ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because f the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So, when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his many words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

- Do we still hunger and thirst for Jesus to change our lives and the lives of those around us?

- Do we still hunger and thirst to see lives change not because of who we are but because of who God is through us?

- When we are hungering and thirsting for the right things and are experiencing God’s satisfaction in our lives it becomes appetizing and appealing for other people around us.

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How do we REBOOT our Hunger in 2022?

1. Seek God First

Matthew 6:33

Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (NLT)

2. Love God Completely

Matthew 22:37

And he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

3. Stop Playing Games

Consider this warning

Matthew 5:20

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

No more playing games with what you hunger after. It’s time to get real.

Get Real

- Hunger after God’s Ways

- Thirst after seeing God Move

- Live life focused on submitting to God’s authority and Power.

- Then and only then can we experience true satisfaction.

SLIDE #10

Matthew 5:6

God blesses those who crave to live a life based only on his standards, his justice, and his ways. Those who live like this are always satisfied. (Humby Version)

Challenge

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

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