Date: November 11, 1935, eveningPlace: ChuenchowScripture Reading: Luke 1:53; Mark 10:51
We must realize that God's blessing to man is based on one condition. In order for God to bless a man, he must satisfy one condition: he must be hungry. "The hungry He has filled with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53). If we are not hungry, we cannot expect to receive anything from God. God's riches and grace are reserved for only one kind of people: those who are hungry. Many people are often dissatisfied and unhappy. However, dissatisfaction and unhappiness are not necessarily the same as hunger. A man may be unhappy and dissatisfied, yet at the same time, refuse to seek for more because he is not hungry even though he is dissatisfied. What does it mean to be hungry? It is being empty before God and feeling unfulfilled within. An empty and unfulfilled feeling is an impetus for a person to seek after God. However, if a person is not hungry, he can sit in the same place for days without doing anything. God has promised to fill only those who are hungry. He has not promised to fill those who are dissatisfied. Those who are full, that is, who think that they are rich, will be sent away empty-handed.
Miss Barber used to tell others that from her youth through her old age she had an eternal hunger for God. She told others that whenever her eyes were not set on the Lord, she would not feel hungry. But whenever her eyes were set on the Lord, she would be continually hungry before the Lord. She was hungry continually, and the Lord filled her continually. Today we find many believers who are dissatisfied, but we find very few who are hungry. The prodigal son in Luke 15 returned home because he was hungry. He could have filled himself with carob pods. This would not have satisfied him, but neither would he have gone hungry, and he would not have thought about returning home. This is the condition with many people. They live daily in dissatisfaction, yet their stomachs are filled with carob pods. Hence, we see that dissatisfaction is one thing, while hunger is another. Many believers know the doctrine of overcoming; they may even be able to give a message on overcoming. They can lay out the doctrine on the overcoming life from the first point to the last and do a clear analysis of the subject. Yet they still have not overcome. It is one thing to have the doctrine of the overcoming life, it is another thing to overcome. The doctrine of the overcoming life is easy. Those who are smart and have a good memory can understand and remember it readily. But when they are faced with various circumstances, they find that they cannot overcome at all. Hearing a message on overcoming is not an end in itself; one does not overcome simply by listening to a message on overcoming. Only one kind of people will overcome: those who are hungry to experience it. God grants the overcoming experience to those who are hungry. If a man is not hungry, he cannot live an overcoming life. Today we need a hunger for God, because all those whom God uses and blesses are desperate ones.
In Genesis 32 in the Old Testament, we have a record of Jacob wrestling with an angel. Although the hollow of his thigh was touched, he spoke to the angel, saying, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me" (v. 26). Although Jacob was ruthless, his disposition met the condition for God's blessing; he was desperately seeking. If God did not bless him, he would not let God go. As a result, God had to bless him. In the New Testament, Paul was the same type of person. He risked his life to become an apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 20:24). As a result, he received much blessing from God.
Many people are not hungry for God. They are not desperate to pursue after God, yet they put all the blame on the leading brothers. They do not grow spiritually, yet they blame their lack of growth on the other brothers. They are dissatisfied, but they are not hungry. The manifestations of dissatisfaction are discouragement and withdrawal. All those who are genuinely hungry are desperate to pursue after God. God's blessing is surely with these people. A preacher once said to the Lord, "O God, if You do not fill me up, I will quit preaching." He was discouraged and told God that he would not be a preacher anymore unless God filled him up. This is dissatisfaction; it is not being hungry. Another lady preacher told the Lord, "O God, if You do not fill me up, I will die." She was after God; she was serious with God, and she would not let God go. This is the kind of people that God blesses. Their hearts are hungry, and their attitude is desperate. God's riches will not fail to fill up these emptied vessels.
You have come to attend this conference at this time. What do you want from the Lord? What do you expect the Lord to fill you with? Do you have any sin which you are not able to overcome? Are you here to ask the Lord to do something for you? Do you have a temper which plagues you? Have you come for the Lord to liberate you? Are you defeated by your love for the world? Do you have dozens or even hundreds of other sins that you are not able to overcome? If your thoughts are unclean, if you cannot overcome your disposition, if you do not have an uninterrupted fellowship with the Lord, if you are afraid to pray, or if you see no result to your work, now is the time for you to ask the Lord to give you the abundant life and fill you up with the Spirit. If you ask of the Lord, He will bless you abundantly, and the Spirit will fill you up.
Although spiritual blessings come without a price and are free, the Lord will not scatter them on the street and let people pick them up mindlessly. The Lord's blessings are for those who want them; He does not give to those who do not want them. The three friends of Daniel who were thrown into the fiery furnace said to Nebuchadnezzar, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace of fire, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan. 3:17-18). The words "But if He does not" speak of their absoluteness towards God. They risked their lives and were not afraid to die. God cannot do anything except to bless this kind of people. God has to reveal Himself to such ones.
Brothers and sisters, we have to pray for God to dig in us, empty us, and create a hunger in us. God fills the hungry with good things. If we are emptied, hungry, and desperate, God will fill us up abundantly, and we will be fully satisfied.
