Why do I not feel sustained and satisfied?

Why do I not feel satisfied and sustained in Jesus?

Jesus’ remarkable claim is that he can sustain and satisfy in life in the same sort of way that bread and water are essential for life to survive and flourish.  It is a remarkable claim.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  (John 6:35)

Never again be hungry and never again be thirsty.  Not a promise about the shadow (our physical hunger and thirst) but about the substance (the deeper realities of our human nature and condition).  Jesus is the ‘real food’ and the ‘real drink’ that all the laden shelves at Tesco and Asda and Sainsbury’s are shadowy illustrations of.  Jesus promises to satisfy and sustain – that we will never go hungry and never go thirsty as we come to him and remain in him.

The ‘Monday-morning’ question is ‘why do I not feel sustained and satisfied in Jesus?’  Why does his
promise made here, so attractive and inviting, not seem to find fulfilment in my reality?  I do not feel sustained in life (in fact life seems to master me more often than I master it) and I do not feel satisfied in life (in fact life can often feel second division not premiership)?

There is an inherit danger in the phrasing of the question – our ‘feelings’ are not always a trustworthy barometer of reality.  There is an inherit danger in an attempt to answer it - we are highly complex individuals, and care and concern for each context is needed to grapple with questions like this.  However, I would like to suggest two tentative answers.

Are you hesitant to feast on Jesus and so are only nibbling?  

Perhaps concern for others’ opinion; or uncertainty about what might happen; or simply not knowing how to ‘feast’ on Jesus - mean you are simply snacking round the edges and not gorging yourself on Jesus?  

Jesus answers this: ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…’ (John 6:44).  Pray that your hesitation, for whatever reason, will be overcome not by your efforts but by this essential, effective drawing of you by God the Father to his Son Jesus.

Are you indulging on junk food that ruins your appetite for Jesus?  

Feasting on things that bring a momentary satisfaction yet are shallow and temporary and numb us to the richness of Jesus.  Grabbing a MacDonald’s and having no room for the steak dinner?  Things like saturating our lives with entertainment; dribbling over the latest bit of gossip; basking in the admiration of doing well; being unduly confident in our bank balance.  The list could go on.  We indulge in things that give us a momentary feeling of fullness, but they absorb our appetite for Jesus – we’ve just got room for the smallest morsel of him.  No wonder we don’t feel sustain or satisfied!

Jesus answers this not by denying these things can bring an element of satisfaction, but by reminding us the satisfaction they bring is only there to point us toward the deeper, fuller, more real satisfaction Jesus brings.  ‘My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink…’ (John 6:55).  Allow the illustration to bring you to the real thing.  To change the metaphor – stop staring at the painting and feast your eyes on the original mountain range.  Allow the temporary satisfaction to do its job and drive you to the real deal – Jesus.