God Allows Hunger

When I was a kid, one of my favourite places to go at Sea World in San Diego was the shark exhibit.  Sharks always piqued my interest, and to see them slowly swimming overhead in the aquarium was nearly awe inspiring.  I was impressed by the thickness of the glass and was glad to be on the safe side of it!  But I always wondered:  what kept the sharks from eating all the other fish in the exhibit?  I later found out the primary secret, one that really isn't too complicated:  the sharks are so well-fed they are not hungry to feast on their tank mates.  Sharks in captivity are similar to most animals who learn quickly when it is feeding time.  When they are full there is little motivation to expend effort to feed.

This morning I read a scripture which shed light on God's dealings with His people after delivering them from slavery in Egypt in Deuteronomy 8:3:  "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD."  Though they were slaves, the people needed to be humbled before God.  One way God did this was to allow them to hunger.  He supplied manna as their daily bread, and apparently it didn't take long for the novelty of "bread from heaven" to wear off.  Numbers 11 says the people longed for their old diet, and no matter how they dressed up manna it wasn't what they wanted.  Numbers 21:5 tells us the people complained about God's provision, that their souls loathed it.  God could have manipulated the situation by providing all the people wanted in abundance every day.  But He didn't because He wanted to teach them something:  that man does not live by bread alone, "but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." This shows us by preventing our desires or even needs for a season to be met, God humbles us and teaches us indispensable truths we must learn to progress.

The proceeding verse in Deuteronomy 8:2 also says, "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."  Giving the people manna six days a week was not a divine science experiment so God could see how the people would respond.  He already knew what was in their hearts.  He allowed them to be hungry and tested them as He led and taught them.  God gave His people the opportunity to do what pleased Him while keeping them well-fed.  The hunger God allowed brought murmuring, complaining, anger, hatred, and rebellion to the surface.  The people didn't only covet fish and fresh vegetables:  they wanted power, honour, authority, wealth, independence, to call the shots, and have their own way.  See what a little hunger brought to light?  God then disciplined His people to restore them to fellowship which had been broken by their sin.  This is for our learning and provides practical wisdom even in parenting.

All children are delightful gifts from God.  We as parents can make the mistake of doing our best to keep them as those well-fed sharks, pandering to satisfy their desires to keep them from exhibiting undesirable behaviour.  Allow a shark to be hungry and he will chase and consume the fish around him, and deny a child's demands and you will see another side too!  I am not happy when the denial of a request brings a negative reaction from my child, but the behaviour indicates pride in the heart of a child which must be addressed.  Shouting or slamming a door is not really the problem, but the issue to lovingly address is the selfish pride, hatred, and rebellion being expressed outwardly.  The worst thing for pride is to feed it and not realise it lurks seething below the surface ready to strike out at everyone - even God.  Our hearts and those of our children can only be delivered from pride and cleansed of sin by spiritual transformation through the Gospel.  Aiming at behaviour will not result in an inner change, but the Bible exposes the thoughts and motives of the heart.  Life is much more than activities, stuff, and food, but is only available when we rely and partake of the Living Bread which has come down from heaven Jesus Christ.  Lasting satisfaction and contentment is found only in Him.

God has allowed us to be hungry for food, significance, belonging, love, and many other things.  It is good when we recognise our hunger and that our satisfaction can only be met by God and the truth of His Word.  When we feed regularly on the Word of God, our souls are satisfied.  Manna was never meant to address the hunger of our souls but Jesus is.  I am glad God allows us to be hungry because otherwise we would never see our need of Him.  We would never know we are doomed to destruction for our sin, cut off from relationship with our Creator.  Psalm 37:3-6 reads, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. ⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. ⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."  Let us rest in the LORD and do good, feeding on His faithfulness, and rejoicing in the Holy Spirit who guides and comforts us continually.  When we humbles ourselves before God, He will lift us up.