The river runs into the sea but the sea is never full.
Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 NLT
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Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were stranded on a deserted island? One of the things I’m not so sure about is the whole water thing. Assuming the deserted island is in the middle of the ocean, all the water surrounding you would be saltwater. That in and of itself would drive me insane – being surrounded by water but none of it able to stop the growing thirst threatening to consume you.
It may sound dramatic, but sometimes the world feels that way. We have every resource known to man available to us; most of them are just a button-click away. I can order my groceries, get answers to almost any question that strikes me, talk to my friend who lives across the world from me, and see a foreign film translated for me all from my phone!
The issue I’m addressing here goes beyond a “spoiled American” and I’m not in need of an attitude adjustment. I’m speaking about something that has transcended the resource-availability of every single generation and culture. It’s an innate, primal desire. We were born with it. We crave something beyond the things this world can offer.
Solomon addresses this in the Bible book called Ecclesiastes. Right out the gate from chapter one, he doesn’t sugar-coat it; check it out:
“Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” – Ecclesiastes 1:4-8 NLT
I found a similar theme in this verse of Proverbs:
“Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.”
– Proverbs 27:20 NLT
The seas are never full. The sun hurries around just to rise again. Human desire is never satisfied. There’s something big that we all – the sun the sea and me – crave that this world will not satisfy.
- Why?
- Do you feel it?
- When is it most apparent to you?
- What do you do with the craving – how do you try to fill it?
I will be challenging myself to answer these questions over the next seven days as I read Ecclesiastes. I want to hear YOUR answers to these questions – real, honest, raw answers! Share publicly below in the comment box or send them to me privately. Come back next Friday to continue the discussion of THE CRAVE.
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Dear Lord, sometimes I feel alone even though I’m surrounded by people. Sometimes I eat more food than seems humanly possible but am still hungry. I know I’m craving more from this life than just this life. Keep me hungry to understand this urge, this crave, so that I don’t stop seeking until I’m filled by you. Amen.
Thanks Emily ! Here are some thoughts: I think part of the crave is that desire of wanting what we cannot have. We also are not perfect. We fail ourselves and we fail each other so these two go hand in hand. We desire to always be successful , we desire that the people in our lives respond in a way that benefits us and become upset with ourselves and with others when they do not reach the mark. What helps me is when I feel that I do not have enough, that I am a failure or that others have failed me . I have to recognize and take hope in the fact that because I am His son and since He is enough then in Gods eyes I too am enough. I am clothed in grace and the same is true of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
“I have to recognize and take hope in the fact that because I am His son and since He is enough then in Gods eyes I too am enough. I am clothed in grace and the same is true of my brothers and sisters in Christ.” LOVE this.