Hunger

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old,” says Isaiah 43, “Behold I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth. How shall you know it? I will make a road in the wilderness and a river in the desert.” We’ve heard a lot about the “New Thing” for a few years now, and more recently talk has been buzzing around the theme of streams and rivers, at least in my studying and meditations in prayer. Specifically Ezekiel’s river, 

“The man went out with the line in his hand and measured one thousand and the water came up to my ankles. Again he measured one thousand and the water came up to my waist. Again he measured one thousand and it was a river I could not cross for the water was too deep, it was water in which one must swim.”

I have been praying and meditating on hunger. Hunger causes one to be willing to yield to Gods flow. When we yield, the current takes over. Yielding causes us to be able to effortlessly transition from ankle deep, to knee deep, to waist deep and finally the deep where one must swim. This makes me think of the phrase, “It is in letting go where we find true liberty.” Jesus said in Isaiah 61 that He came to proclaim liberty to the captives. There are those who are being held physically captive, and there are those who are in captivity to spiritual bondage. And then there are those, even amongst the redeemed, who are living captive simply from an unwillingness to fully surrender to the flow of the spirit.  Some of my favorite promises from the scriptures are the simple ones stating that those who seek Him will find Him. And, blessed are those who hunger for they will be filled. Revival is in the river. The spirit who moved over the waters in Genesis 1 is the spirit who moved over the 120 in the upper room at Pentecost, and it is that same spirit who is being poured out on those who burn for revival today. In John 5:19 Jesus says that He can do nothing of Himself, but He does only what He sees the Father do, and He says only what He hears the Father say. Since this is Jesus talking, then how much more do we need the river! How much more do we need to surrender. To get in the deep and learn the rhythms of the current. You see, the river teaches us how to live in the heavenly realm. Hebrews 12 says, “Since we are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses, let us cast off that which so easily entangles us so that we can run the race set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” I would say that this physical, earthly realm is what so easily entangles us. Casting it off is letting the current of the river move us into living from the heavenly realm. This is where we get to sit in heavenly places with Christ and He teaches us to live as He did. Seeing the Father, hearing the Father. Living out the prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Heidi Baker talks about surrender by saying that it is becoming possessed by the Holy Spirit. She says that it is like being put on by the spirit like a glove.  Lastly, Psalms 84 says “My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of my Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!” That is hunger! He goes on in verse 5, “Blessed is the one whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on You. As they pass through the valley of weeping, they make it a spring. As rain covers the valley with pools, they go from strength to strength.” This verse paints such a vivid picture. A picture of one hungering and setting his heart on finding God. Notice the result is that in the places he journeyed through, the landscape is altered. As he walks through the valley of weeping, the valley is turned into a spring. This is what hunger does, this is what revival does. It changes the landscape. It covers the valley with pools and springs. Can we no longer simply be familiar with these romantic sounding phrases, can we not just write and sing songs about alters and flames? Can we set our hearts on living out the reality of being a living sacrifice? For this to be true of us, we have to yield, and we have to burn.