Cravings

In my earlier post Henri Nouwen ends the quoted section with the following:

"It is a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart."

It left me reflecting on cravings and addictions, and I remembered these verses from Ecclesiastes:

"I have seen the burden God has laid upon men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11)

People often say that we ought to be content, and whilst I acknowledge the futility and ungraciousness of complaining about life, I fear being satisfied. The deep hunger in us, the heart that longs to be satisfied, is not an accident of our fallen human position (except in the sense that we have rejected the source of satisfaction). As Solomon says in the passage above, God has "set eternity in the hearts of men". He has made in us a heart that desires infinity, a craving that only He will satisfy. The Bible is full of that sense of expectancy: wanting more, being glad that this is not all there is, looking forward to a day when every hunger will be satisfied and every desire fulfilled.

"...but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears...Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Not I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor 13:10-13)

We often hear repeated that modern fable about the rich man who, despite owning more than we could imagine, still wants more. It is right to recognise that wealth, or any other earthly thing, will never satisfy but setting aside that deep dissatisfaction is not the answer. I want God to increase that craving in me, but at the same time keep reminding me that I will find my thirst slaked nowhere else.