Desire vs. Demand

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods…
Psalm 63:5

My church is doing a Freedom Fast. For 21 days we are going without “choice” food (sweet, meat, salty, tasty etc.) as Daniel did. The focus is to unify us in prayer for our city, as each person participates as they feel led.

When our pastor first shared about the idea I was intrigued. We would be deliberately forsaking the “joy” of food for a time. It’s a joy - an indulgence that I value highly and experience frequently. It would be a challenge. Does it make sense to avoid joy?

I have looked forward to how my soul would be challenged by such a fast. I am taking this opportunity to find out how much I rely on food for comfort, pleasure, satisfaction and joy – where I should ultimately be leaning on my ultimate Source.

Last week I had the chance to attend an incredibly excellent student leadership day run by World Vision. I was more than impressed by the way that they communicate their message and value the potential of young people and their influence. The thing that affected me most personally on the day was information about how the way I waste food actually affects access to food for the world’s poorest people.

Of course the obvious applications are to do our best to reduce the amount we waste, or to make a bigger difference by encouraging others to do the same. But I was stirred with a different thought. What if we could reduce demand? It is our ability to demand and quite easily purchase whatever we want that drives up prices and consumption.

Demand is fuelled by a great gulf of yearning within our souls. Misplaced as it is, without God, we in the affluent West seek to satisfy ourselves through what we can acquire materially.

There is nothing wrong with desire. It is a beautiful thing that God has put within us to lead us to Him, to others, to purpose. But demand is ugly. We actually believe we “deserve” what we have and what we want, driven by greed and self-pity.

Is your soul satisfied with the real Source?

Do you still search for joy and comfort from elsewhere?

Keen to mess with your demands? If you have a spare 15 mins, check out the “Global Food Crisis” video that messed with me.
http://www.worldvision.com.au/40HF/Videos.aspx