Everything Bitter is Sweet

"One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet." Proverbs 27:7

This verse has been rolling around in my mind for the last few days. Well, the second part has. The verse is about food, but that's not where my thoughts have been taking it. I'm not sure this post should even be a devotional, but here it goes.

The World is hungry! It seeks satisfaction for that hunger, so it will try everything. Money or at  least pursuing money seems sweet, but ultimately it doesn't satisfy that hunger Recognition feels good for it's "fifteen minutes of fame" but it;s fleeting, so it doesn't satisfy. Some fame lasts longer, but with that fame comes a loss of privacy, of just being yourself. How can it be sweet to have your every bad hair day spread across the Internet. That certainly isn't sweet. Sex with anyone may seem like freedom, but since it is constantly seeking more sounds more like bondage than freedom. How about good things like friends. Friends are good right? In this social media society where Internet friend counts are so important, one has to wonder how many friends will it take to make it sweet enough? Friends can be great, don't misunderstand, but the lust for more friends, even people you barely know is unfulfilling. Then there are real life friends, as opposed to just Facebook friends. Do these people bring out the best in you or corrupt you? If they bring out the best, that is sweet, but if they don't it usually leads to trouble.The World is always seeking.

We, Christians, use the words "The World" a lot. Put as I was mulling over this verse I realized that I tend to forget the obvious fact that "The World" is people, individuals. People all around us are seeking to fill their hunger. As I sit at red lights, I often look at the others around me. I've caught cars full of people, who aren't saying a word to each other, and looking sullen. I've seen people wipe tears fro their eyes. I've seen the weary and the worried. I often will send up a quick prayer for them. I'm amazed at the fact that I know only a brief moment in their lives, but God knows them intimately. He knows if they are just having a bad day, or if their heart is eating bitter things in the hope that it will sweeten their lives. The World is full of people who know that the things they use to fill their hunger are really bitter, but it's better than nothing. The World is also full of people who seek and seek and seek but are never satisfied. Both these groups need to be filled. They need to know what truly is sweet, or rather Who is.

As Christians we do not need to stand on street corners declaring the Lord, but sometimes He will ask us to. Billy Sunday, one of the influential Christians of the early 20th century was converted by listening to the gospel being preached on a street corner. If the Lord, wishes you to speak on a street corner, then do it. You don't know how many Billy Sundays will hear and find the only One that satisfies that hunger. Living our daily lives brings people to Christ as well. It might only feel like seeds being sown, with someone else harvesting, but these seeds are needed to help fill the hunger. Show people what it means to be filled with something truly sweet. Stop complaining, stop gossiping, and stop publicly worrying about everything. (Yes, ask for prayer from others, but watch how much worry you show to those who are seeking.)  Don't seek the things you know don't bring the filling. Seek Him and others will see that, wonder, and hopefully seek out you to find out how you are being made full.

The World is hunger. People are starving for true satisfaction for their hunger. Listen to how God wants you to show them the One who satisfies that longing. Then follow Him into the way that He wants you to show them Him. Whether it's preaching to the masses or preaching their your everyday words and actions, lets point them to the One who is truly satisfies.