God, Mashed Potatoes, and Gravy

Last year, one of my favorite Bible teachers, Beth Moore, shared a profound thought that hit me like a ton of bricks. It forced me to reach deep down inside myself and reconsider everything I had believed about the longings of my heart and the ways I had been attempting (and failing miserably) to satisfy them. As I paraphrase the thought, consider what areas in your own life this may apply to:

God created us with a hunger inside that can only be filled by Him. We can try and fill that hunger with money, fame, distractions, friends, and even our spouse or children, but we will still never be satisfied. In the end, we will only end up creating strife in our relationships by trying to fill a God-sized hole with human-sized fixes. It will never work. Instead, we must think of it this way: God is like mashed potatoes and our friends and family are the gravy. We should be so filled up and satisfied with God that any love we receive from others is just the gravy on top! Our relationships are meant to OVERFLOW us, not to FILL us.

The comparison may be humorous, but the reality of it isn't. I am not hard up for examples of times in my life when the opposite of the "mashed potatoes and gravy" theory has applied. In fact, I believe it's evident in every moment of loneliness, in each twinkling of fear, in every expression of discontentment. It's as if we're filling a hungry belly with a few sips of water and expecting to be nourished. You can color an egg blue, but it won't make it hatch. You can set your leg in a cast, but it won't heal a broken arm. You stay up till midnight studying your History textbooks, but they won't help you ace your Math quiz.

Silly examples? Perhaps. But are we not doing just that? If we viewed our hunger through the eyes of God, would we not be thinking, "But you're going at it all wrong..."? Isn't trying to make our spouse or children fit into God-sized shoes as ridiculous as trying to patch up a crack in the foundation of a house with a glob of mayonnaise? It's doomed to fail.

Human-sized fixes come in all shapes, sizes, an disguises. From our spouse's early promise to "give us the world," to a long-awaited pregnancy, to infomercials that tells us that self-esteem, popularity, and satisfaction can be ours for the low, low price of $19.95 + shipping and handling. We fall for these lies willingly because they are tangible and don't require faith to receive them. In an "instant" and insatiable society like ours, we would rather have an empty "here-and-now" than a satisfied "there-and-then". Trusting God to fill our emptiness requires a faith that we may not realize we're capable of, or a trust we may not believe will be rewarded. But we ARE capable, and we WILL be rewarded...

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." -Hebrews 11:6

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1

Let me put this plainly. No need in heaven or on earth is too big for the God who created it to fill. No desire, regardless of how great, is He unable or unwilling to meet. He is not only uniquely qualified to satisfy us emotionally and spiritually, but physically as well. Are you longing for an embrace? Ask Him to hold you. Do you feel you've lost your way? Ask Him to grab hold of your hand. Are you tired? Ask Him to give you rest.

"You have not because you ask not." -James 4:2b

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7

If we will but choose to find our satisfaction in God, we will know a peace beyond comprehension. We will not only run and not grow weary, but we will walk and not be faint. He longs to satisfy you, dear friend.

Will you come and be filled?

-Kelley