Needy Souls

I was working in a flower bed the other afternoon when I heard the weeping voices of baby bluebirds in a nest nearby. I followed my ears and saw the mother bird franticly flying back and forth from the nest feeding her noisy babies. They were awfully impatient, showing no consideration for their diligent mother, but only remembered their endless appetites.

Which set me to thinking, as everything always does, about the relentless condition of my own soul. It seems as if I am never content, but always want more and will search vigorously to find fulfillment; many times in the wrong places. The emptiness inside reveals my need for fullness.

I don't believe this appetite is all bad. In fact I am convinced that we are created with it. King David honestly wrote about this hunger:
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Ps. 42:1-2)

This hunger is healthy if we recognize the importance of fulfilling it with Christ alone. I often find myself relying on harmful antidotes to subside my deepest hungers: TV, internet, food, friends, activities, shopping, sleep. But I am learning slowly that these things don't really fulfill this hunger. Only the Lord can calm this restless heart that always has it's mouth wide open.

"There is nothing on earth I desire but You ... the nearness of God is my good..."
(Ps. 73:25, 28)