“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. " John 6:35

Moving along in the study, I am so challenged with the concept of finding complete satisfaction in God.

Today is 5 months since the day Julius went home to His Creator. I have an ache that does not leave me. It is constant – often unbearable. In my finite thinking – the only thing that could change it, is if I had Julius by my side and that is not going to happen – ever on this side of heaven. How is this void ever going to be filled? How am I going to go on? Please don’t tell me or tell yourself that time heals – it does not.
The Bible tells us the gospel contains all we need “for life and godliness.” 2 Peter 1:3.
As I wrestled with this, I remembered another woman with an ache as deep as mine.

 Dear Reader, come on this journey with me and see how God can grant to those who mourn
 “the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.^” Isaiah 61:3

You can read the details of the story in 1 Samuel 1. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%201&version=ESV

This is the story of Hannah – the second wife of Elkanah.

In the narrative we are told that she could not bear children because God had closed her womb. (God is sovereign – He is creator, He decides because He is God).

Year after year, Elkanah would go up to the temple and worship the Lord and year after year Peninah the wife with children would provoke Hannah.

Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband loved her and he gave her a double portion of the sacrifice he had brought back for his family. He was a caring husband. When he saw that she was still sad, he asked her “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” 1 Sam 1:9 (No one can satisfy your innermost longing – not even a caring husband).

Hannah went to the temple herself and she was “deeply distressed”, she “prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.” She pleaded with God, and promised that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate him back to God. (It is important to recognise that all that we receive belongs to the Lord – even our families. We must hold them loosely).

Eli the priest in the meanwhile judged her for her appearance and thought she was drunk.  Hannah described herself as a “woman troubled in spirit” She was pouring out her soul before the Lord, speaking from her great anxiety and pain. (God wants all of me and all of you –“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Ps 51:17).

Dear Reader do you identify with Hannah? I do – where is God? What are His plans? You know in your head that He is good but in your heart you wonder at the circumstances of your life.

What is the void in your life today? Are you struggling with singleness? Joblessness? Stuck in a difficult marriage? Childless?  Year after year you have gone to the Lord and He has not answered? You have caring, loving people around you – and yet you are sad and troubled in spirit? Nothing satisfies. You have done it all – the clubs, the gym, your fancy car, the successful career, the beautiful home, the wide circle of friends, the trips, cruises, holidays, the expensive diamond ring and on and on...But your void is still there. You can mask it for the outside world, but you have an emptiness that you are all too aware of.

Let us get back to Hannah. She was a woman in despair. I wonder whether this was her breaking point – when the priest mistook her for a drunken woman. Did she find herself at the bottom of the pit? Did her rope break? She poured her heart and soul before the Lord and acknowledged her desperate need and then the Word tells us that  “ her face was no longer sad.” Vs20.

Loved one do you see it? Hannah’s need and longing was for a son. She had wept for a long time, but only when she truly met the Lord, did she find satisfaction. She had not yet had her son.

Dear Reader, nothing other than the person of Jesus Christ is going to fill that void. I have heard it said that there is a God sized hole in every heart that only Jesus can fill. I hope you are encouraged and that as you ache you will like Hannah, go to Him and pour out your heart to Him. He is the Only One who can make your face” no longer sad,” even if you never receive what your heart longs for. He alone satisfies.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35

“...whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.^[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14