Craving in the Wilderness

I was reading through Psalm 106 this morning and was struck by the one phrase in the passage.  It said they (the Israelites) craved intensely in the desert.  The Psalmist was remembering how God had just crushed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, and then talks of how they praised God but soon became impatient in the wilderness.

¹² Then they believed his promises
   and sang his praise.

 ¹³ But they soon forgot what he had done
   and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
¹⁴ In the desert they gave in to their craving;
   in the wilderness they put God to the test. 
¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for,
   but sent a wasting disease among them.

This reminded me of my own shortcomings.  God is going to lead us all through a wilderness of some sort.  It is going to happen.  The wilderness is going to produce a craving.  For the Israelites they craved the comfort of oppression. They should have been craving the presence of God. The irony is this occurs in a special period of time when God's presence was among his people.  No wonder he referred to them as being stiff-necked and obstinate. God was there he was with them.  They watched him part a sea, and then close it up to destroy an army, and then they become impatient and want for a meal.

For me, the wilderness draws me to a love of junk food.  I dive in to all manners of fast food and gallons of soda. The result is I pack on pounds.  What I fail to realize is that this hunger for junk food is the cry of my hungry soul longing to be with God. 

Food is easier.  I can control it.  It is tangible. I can hold it and see the satisfaction as I devour a double cheeseburger. I can feel the tingle of the soda in the back of my throat.  Craving God means I must relinquish the control to something I can not see and cannot control.  I have to wait.  I have to face demons in the meantime. I have to trust in the goodness and provision of God.  The wilderness leads to better things. I pray that God would give me my daily bread. (this is what the Israelites were unhappy with).  

In Matthew chapter 4 Satan tempts Jesus.  One of the things he does in the wilderness Jesus was in was to tempt him to turn rocks into bread. Here's the rub. We have to learn how to crave God in the wilderness wait for the bread of heaven He provides. In the meantime we need to understand Satan is peddling rock. Your craving may not be food.  Change the word food above to your craving an see how it reads.