Heaven knows the hungry mouths that the nations have worldwide.

For some sadly, it leads to an early visit to the gallows.

I sigh.

As large of a problem world hunger is… there is a hunger not often met that leads many to the same kind of fate.

The hunger and need for love.

I’ve known some souls to become so twisted in looking for it that they sometimes sell the part that they need to be truly loved.

Their souls.

Admittedly, I think all of us have come close to this at times.

Maybe more often than we like to admit.

It’s not easy to keep hold of your soul when hunger is driving you.

Thankfully… most people aren’t monsters about it.

They ache, hide, cope, and sometimes have lesser evils take the place of their pain. In the effort to numb their driving need to feel.

To feel meaning.

To feel purpose.

To feel full.

Pain becomes the identity of a soul that feels lost.

It fills the eyes with red hatred. Just to keep the reckoning sadness away… for just a bit longer.

It holds the mind captive in a place where nothing can be felt, or nothing should be… says the voice.

Unless the wish to escape or fly away is surrendered too for just a moment.

For many… that’s sitting in front of the TV frittering away too much time.

Something emotional to feel, and experience with characters of fiction.

Nothing wrong with that.

But so often… the worlds that we like to escape to in our minds, and what we surround ourselves with reflect what we are trying to avoid within.

Many times, others will tangle and make the beast with two backs… with ones that don’t love them in turn.

Even worse… the ones that can’t love in turn are the ones doing the same seeking.

The quest for joy.

The quest for a moment of blinding, flowing, intoxicating pleasure.

Where heaven can be touched for a moment, and Icarus’ fate soon begets them its due.

It doesn’t have to be this way, nor should it be.

We are sons and daughters of one who though above us, loves our souls more than can be fathomed in a lifetime, or ten.

Yet he does.

Some come to know him as God, or as a sense of a higher power.

Some know him deeper, and fuller in the love that he imparts a weary soul ready to receive it.

In his hands warmth can be found.

Bread for the heart.

And provision for life.

I’m learning how he provides in both ways.

And my heart is opening up to receiving more of the bread in his hands for my life.

He has food.

He has supply.

He has OMG… money.

Yes… material things and dreams are in his possession too.

He is the rich king.

Vastly stocked and supplied for the throngs of people in his abode, and upon the earth.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9, WEB

The older I get the more I appreciate the things I already have.

I’m learning to grow where I have been planted.

Sometimes it’s not looking for the next new thing to do that brings fulfillment.

It’s learning to prosper where you are, and with what you have been given.

“To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked”

Luke 12:48, WEB

It’s learning to be a child again; trusting and believing in that trust.

Learning to take God by his hands and letting him lead us.

Our Father’s hands are strong….

And gentle.

“Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.”

Isaiah 48:13, WEB

He is always available. Even to those who are not looking.

“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.”

Isaiah 65:1, WEB

And we are held in his hands.

“Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Isaiah 41:10, WEB

May we learn to trust and take our father’s hands.

And may we share in the joy of seeing him smile at us.

Thank you for reading.

Blessings.