HUNGER

One of the biggest adjustments for me - or more precisely for my digestive system - has been getting back to Western food. The diet for 16 days was noodles, rice, rice, with some meat, occasional fish and some vegetables - one called 'bitter melon' is not recommended! Three meals a day and very little else. It took a little time to get used to the frugal diet, but it was fine and became part of the community experience of my time in Hong Kong.

Over the last few days I have enjoyed getting back to my normal diet and not a rice grain has passed my lips, but I have noticed something that I didn't feel for my 3 weeks in HK. I have felt hungry. I didn't notice until now, but despite the different diet in HK I don't remember once feeling hungry between meals. I was always ready for meal times, but those mid-morning, mid-afternoon, supper-time hunger pangs disappeared completely. It seems that the noodle/rice diet satisfied me.

That has led me to my second lesson from my trip to HK. If I fill myself up with the right 'food' then I will be satisfied. That wasn't only true about the menu on offer, it was also true about the 'spiritual food' that I was able to feast on. I was satisfied. I didn't feel hungry for anything else that has been part of my 'spiritual diet' for many years. It's too easy for me to crave many different things - the latest song, book, leadership technique, feeling, person, event - all good in themselves, but ultimately they will not fill me up, they will leave me wanting more.

In Matthew 5:6 Jesus says, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.'

When I am 'eating' the right food, I will be filled, what a promise and what a challenge. If I can make sure my diet is based on what God has to give, that I continue to seek God's best way of living in me and in others, then I will be filled, I won't crave anything else, it will be enough to satisfy my life.

Living in House 4 I could see what the guys were longing for, what they were hungry for, and that was simply life change, the immediate presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, encountering the cross each day and responding in worship, opening up their lives for more of God because they knew that only He could satisfy. They have lived in the world of drugs which they know never satisfied them, they always wanted the next fix, but in Jesus they know that if they hunger after Him, if they hunger after living His right way, then they won't need another fix in their lives, ever. They will be filled.

That's the second lesson I have learnt and want to continue to be in my life. I want to be hungry for God's way because then I will be filled and won't be chasing the snacks that will leave me wanting more.

Rice and noodles, I can recommend them as a great diet. Righteousness, now that's something to feast on and it will leave you full.