cravings explained

8/10/2019 Cravings Explained

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Jesus or that Jesus is a merely a means

to fulfill cravings for love, peace or

power is erroneous. Here are a few

different lenses you can apply to the

framework of cravings that can help

different people understand their

need for God.

CRAVINGS AS EVIDENCE

FOR A GOD-CRAVING

Erwin McManus, author of Soul

Cravings describes cravings this way:

There are these cravings within me, though,

that pull on me like an addiction.

They have always been with me and have

even at times tormented me.

They go far deeper than any physical

addiction ever could.

Beyond my flesh, beyond my mind, beyond

my heart, there seems to be a place where my

deepest and most power cravings lie. And

they do not lie silently.

My soul, it seems, always desires and

demands, and no matter how I try to satisfy it,

it always craves more. (pp. 6-7, Soul Cravings

Prequel)

We try to fill ourselves with everything we can

grab, and yet there remains an inescapable

emptiness within. Even when we’ve looked

everywhere else, even when there’s nowhere

else to look, we still somehow neglect toconsider the possibility that what our souls

long for is God. We can’t take enough or make

enough to fill the hollowness within us. No

matter what we try or do we can’t avoid the

void. (pp. 52, Soul Cravings Prequel)

Cravings are evidence that we are

designed for something more. Yes, we

are designed for meaning, and love

and achievement; however, the fact

that we crave those things points us to

an ultimate reality. Additionally, it is

our inability to come to a place of

satisfaction that points us to the

question, “What if the central craving

of your soul, is a craving for God?”

C.S Lewis in The Weight of Glory putit this way:

A man’s physical hunger does not prove that

man will get any bread; he may die of

starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a

man’s hunger does prove that he comes of a

race, which repairs its body by eating and

inhabits a world where eatable substances

exist. In the same way, though I do not believe

(I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves

that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good

indication that such a thing exists....

Exploring the universality of cravings

is a wonderful starting point for

conversation and exploration into the

spiritual dimension of our lives. Could

it be that a craving for love means we

were made for true unconditional

love? What if our craving for freedom

means that true freedom is possible?

Begin here, and then introduce the

eternal love and freedom (forexample) that is found in God alone.

CRAVINGS AS FALSE HOPES

OR IDOLS

Most of the cravings we have are good

things: a craving for love, meaning,



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success, or happiness. But what

happens to us when those good

things become the ultimate thing?

How do we deal with the reality of

their diminishing ability to satisfy?

What happens to us when we elevate

a created thing to the place of saviour

—looking for justification, joy,

freedom and meaning?

Timothy Keller, the author of

Counterfeit Gods, explains it this way:

The very things upon which these people

were building all their happiness turned to

dust in their hands because they had built all

their happiness upon them. In each case, a

good thing among many was turned into a

supreme thing, so that its demands overrode

all competing values. But counterfeit gods

always disappoint, and often destructively so.

We think idols are bad things, but that isalmost never the case. The greater the good,

the more likely we are to expect that it can

satisfy our deepest needs and hopes.

Anything can serve as a counterfeit god,

especially the very best things in life. (Keller,

pp. xvii – xvii)

Good things raised to an ultimate

height always disappoint. Do not be

fooled. Setting up any good thing to

the place of your greatest hope will

bring disappointment and ultimately

despair.

Keller asks with great clarity:

What makes us uncontrollably angry, anxious,

or despondent? What racks us with guilt we

can’t shake? Idols control us, since we feel we

must have them or life is meaningless. (Keller,

p. xxii)

Is there something here too important to me,

something I must have at all costs? (Keller, p.

169)

The intense danger of these false

hopes or idols is that as we look to

them to give us meaning, hope, and

happiness, they inevitably fail todeliver. In order to maintain any sliver

of happiness achieved, we must work

harder and sacrifice more to keep a

hold on its ever-diminishing

satisfaction. We soon find ourselves

making choices that require sacrifices

beyond what we are prepared to give.

These idols end up taking our life

rather than delivering the life they

promised.

Exploring the controlling power of

cravings and their inability to truly

satisfy is yet another way to use

cravings to bring people to an

understanding of their need for Jesus

Christ. Jesus Christ is unique. He is able

to deal with the seemingly bottomless

appetite of our cravings. He also is

able to reorient our misplaced

affections from created things toHimself—the inexhaustible Creator.

He alone can satisfy us.

CRAVINGS EVANGELISM

The best way to use the paradigm of

cravings evangelistically is to



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prayerfully explore your own personal

cravings.

o

What desires drove you before

coming to know Christ?

o

How did Christ reveal your need

for Him through these cravings?

Next, consider how God needs to

reorient your cravings right now.

o Are you finding satisfaction in

Jesus alone?

o

What cravings have snuck into the

centre of your happiness and

become your practical saviour?

I am not asking whether or not you have rival

gods. I assume that we all do; they are hidden

in every one of us. The question is: What do

we do about them? How can we becomeincreasingly clear-sighted rather than

remaining in their power? (Keller. p. 167)

Repent of those things that you have

built your happiness upon. Turn to

Christ and rejoice in Him. Contemplate

and accept His love. Learn to love Him

more. With His love as the focus of

your heart’s affections and life, you

will be free to love the people and

good things in your life rightly. SetChrist in His rightful place and

establish Him as the true King of your

life and affections.

Start with these two considerations

concerning your own cravings and

from here you will be able to

understand the cravings that drive

those around you. Only as you are

experiencing Christ’s transformative

work in your own life will you be able

to authentically relate to the challenge

of helping others see their cravings

clearly and set Christ in His rightful

place.

Lastly, please note that as you engagewith people using cravings it may be

helpful to identify in your own mind

which of the two craving paradigms

you are working from. It can be

confusing if you jump between them

in one conversation.

May God firstly work in your own life

to help you be amazed at His creative

design of you and your cravings, and

secondly, continue to transform you

as you surrender your idols and find

complete satisfaction in Jesus alone.

Cravings Explained is an excerpt from My

Story.

cravings explained

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