Christian Living

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Getting to church on Sundays is usually more of a challenge than a pleasure. Considering the fact that I can get to work by 8:00 each day it seems odd that I struggle to get to church on time. Especially I consider that church starts at 10:30 and is much closer than my work place.

On Sunday mornings everything feels slower. Getting the coffee ready, trying to figure out breakfast, scheduling showers for all of us, making wardrobe selections; the list goes on.

My normally patient husband seems a bit irritable which suits me just fine since I have been itching to snap at him anyway. My six-year old will proclaim every week that he hates his class at church and has decided that he doesn’t want to go anymore. My 15 year old will need to be woken up several times and seems surprised to hear that we are going somewhere….on Sunday morning….as we have every Sunday since he can remember. The 17 year old will announce that he has to work and his start time is 11:45, meaning that he sees no sense in going to church because he will need to leave mid-service.

The ride in is always a challenge. My radio station is set to a contemporary Christian station that plays old hymns on Sundays. I am fine with that. The groans from the back seat indicate that they don’t agree. I turn it down low but sing along, they slap in headphones and listen to their personal CD players.

Sometimes my husband and I will chat; we can usually find something to argue about on Sunday. We have gotten into heated discussions on our way in and I have even refused to enter the church until I got an (undeserved) apology.

We get there all in one piece, close to being on time and looking basically presentable. We shuffle the kids to their respective classes or seats and take our places as praise and worship begins. My mind is trying to focus on God but remnants of the nonsense we have struggled through all morning makes this impossible.

One morning I was standing in church singing when I suddenly heard “Where is your hunger?” I tried to ignore it but it came again. I could not understand what I was hearing. I thought about the scriptural context “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” How did this apply to me?

The worship team began singing a new song; “Hungry I come to you for I know you satisfy…” I felt I had been stopped in my tracks. They went on to sing “I’m desperate for you…” and I felt such revelation wash over me. I understood what the Lord was trying to show me. I had not been coming to church hungry. That is not to say that I had not been “eating” and it was time to look at my diet.

During the week I spend about 20 minutes each day in my bible. I also pray throughout the day. However I spend nearly 4 hours a day with the TV on. I read several magazines a week, I answer tons of email, I spend 40 hours at work and several hours commuting. I chat on the phone with friends for at least 2 hours a week. I usually spend an evening each week going to dinner with my husband and often to a movie.

None of these activities are wrong or “bad.” These are the ways I fulfill my need for fun, achievement and fellowship. These are desires that God created within each of us. However, He intended to fulfill them first and foremost. I had been getting my needs met by everything around me and then coming to God for any deficit. I was treating Him like the dessert rather than the main course.

After meditating on this I made some changes in the way I viewed Sundays. I began to feel excited about getting into church and I felt….HUNGRY. All the normal glitches that presented themselves along the way seemed like no big deal. I laughed when my 6-year old began his weekly battle I reminded him that God was the most important thing in his life. I did not even engage in a conversation with my 15 yr old, just woke him and let him know that he would be in the car when we left for church, in whatever state he was at that time. My whole countenance has changed and my focus is on getting to church and getting filled. This has reflected in the attitude of my family. My challenge to you today is to ask yourself: Where is YOUR hunger?

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