What Are You Hungry For?

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Have you ever done something you knew you probably shouldn't do? And then afterward thought, why did I do that? Maybe you sent the text that you had been debating forever, said something that you knew you probably should have kept to yourself, or maybe you bought something that you absolutely did not need, or went looking for attention in a place you already knew you had no business looking for it. And sometimes it's not even that dramatic. It might be that you're just standing in front of the refrigerator when you know you're not hungry, or you're scrolling when you should be sleeping, or going back to something you had already decided wasn't good for you. And then, afterward, when the moment has passed and you're thinking clearly again, you start to wonder how you ended up there. And that's what's interesting to me because most of us are pretty good at recognizing temptation after the fact. It's recognizing it while it's happening that gets a little tricky. So what if we could catch it sooner? What if we could recognize the moment when a perfectly normal desire starts pulling us toward a decision we may regret? Because temptation doesn't always walk through the door looking like temptation. Sometimes it looks like something you actually need. And in one of the most familiar stories in Scripture, it looked like a piece of bread. Hey, I'm Melissa, and this is My Question for You. We are in part four of our series called Behind Enemy Lines, where we're looking at what Scripture tells us about the enemy and how he operates. So we started this series by making sure we knew who the enemy actually is because people are not the enemy. And then we looked at deception and how a lie can begin shaping our choices when we accept it as the truth. And last week we talked about accusation and how something true can be used to lead us toward a verdict God never gave us. And today we're looking at another strategy, and this one can be especially difficult to recognize because it doesn't always begin with something bad. Sometimes it begins with something we genuinely want. So here's my question for you. What are you hungry for? And I think one way we begin recognizing it is by understanding what happens before we make the choice. But I'm not sure we always recognize what it looks like in real time. We tend to think of the obvious stuff first, things like an affair, an addiction, cheating, stealing, something where there's no real question about whether we should be doing it. We know for a fact that what we're doing is wrong. But temptation isn't always that obvious. It can begin with wanting relief after a hard day, wanting to feel appreciated after being overlooked, or simply wanting something to happen faster than it seems to be happening. None of those desires automatically mean something is wrong. The question is what happens next? And that brings me back to the bread. Okay, so in Matthew chapter four, Jesus has just been baptized, and immediately afterward, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness. He fasts for forty days and forty nights, and scripture tells us very clearly that he is hungry. I mean, of course he is. And it's at that point that the tempter approaches him and says, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Think about that for a second. Jesus is hungry, bread would satisfy his hunger. There is nothing sinful about eating. There's nothing wrong with being hungry, and there certainly isn't anything inherently wrong with bread. So why is this a temptation? I think that question gets us closer to what temptation can actually look like in our own lives, because sometimes the problem isn't the desire itself. The problem is what we're willing to do to satisfy that desire. Jesus had a legitimate physical need. He had been in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, and he was hungry, but he wasn't going to allow that to determine his obedience. And that makes me wonder how often we assume something must be okay simply because the desire underneath it is legitimate. Wanting companionship can make the wrong relationship easier to justify. After a long, difficult season, relief can start to feel like something we're entitled to however we can get it. And when we've been waiting for what feels like forever, taking matters into our own hands can suddenly sound a lot like common sense. Just seems like the obvious thing to do, right? And that's where things get blurry. Because when the need is real, the solution can start looking reasonable. And I think that's part of what makes temptation effective. It doesn't always have to convince you to want something evil. Sometimes all it has to do is convince you that because you want something legitimate, any path that gets you there must also be legitimate. But those are two very different things. You can be hungry and still be offered the wrong bread. And that brings us to James. Let's turn to James chapter one, beginning in verse 13. It says, When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. Okay? Then James takes a conversation somewhere I think we need to go, especially in a series about spiritual warfare. He says that each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own desire and enticed. That matters because we've been talking about understanding the schemes of the enemy, but scripture doesn't give us permission to blame every bad decision on him. James turns the mirror around. So now we're looking at ourselves clearly. There are desires in us. There are patterns we've developed, places where we're vulnerable, and things that have a stronger pull on us than others. If we really want to recognize temptation before we're already tangled up in it, we need to understand what those things are too. Because what tempts you may do absolutely nothing for me. You could put something directly in front of me that you have had to fight with everything in you to resist. And I might walk right past it without giving it a second thought. Our temptations may not be the same. The reverse could just as easily be true. We're not all hungry for the same things. And that word hungry is important because hunger changes the way something looks. Anyone who has ever gone grocery shopping hungry knows exactly what I mean. You walk into the store for milk, and somehow you leave with half of aisle seven. I don't know how it happens, but when you go shopping and you're hungry, everything becomes desirable. Things you weren't even thinking about suddenly look good because you walked in hungry. And I think something similar can happen emotionally and spiritually. Think about how differently you can see things when you're exhausted, lonely, angry, disappointed, or maybe when you're feeling overlooked. That doesn't make those emotions sinful. It makes you human. But it also means vulnerability matters. There are decisions that seem completely out of character when you're rested and when you're thinking clearly that can suddenly feel perfectly reasonable when you're hurting. And if we don't recognize that, we can mistake vulnerability for clarity. We start telling ourselves, this is what I really want. When maybe the truth may be, this is what I want right now because of what I'm feeling right now. And there's a difference. So instead of only asking, what am I tempted by, I think there's another question worth asking. When am I most vulnerable to it, to that thing that I'm desiring? Because once you recognize the conditions surrounding certain choices, you may start seeing patterns you hadn't noticed before. You may realize your words aren't usually the problem until you feel disrespected. Or maybe spending might be easy to control until disappointment sends you looking for something that feels good. Or maybe you're completely comfortable being alone until loneliness shows up late at night, and suddenly someone that you already decided wasn't good for you starts looking a little different. That's useful information. It tells you something about your hunger. And once you notice you're hungry, you can be a little more careful about what starts looking like bread, about what you're choosing to feed you. Let's go back to the wilderness. Jesus is now recognizing what's happening, right, with the tempter. There's no long internal debate recorded in Matthew about whether the bread might actually be a good idea this one time. And Jesus answers, he says, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And that's when the temptation shifts. Scripture is even used to make the suggestion sound legitimate. And Jesus recognizes that too. Then comes an offer of power and kingdoms in exchange for worship. Different offer, same objective. Pull Jesus away from obedience. And each time Jesus knows what he's looking at. That stands out to me because I wonder how much harder temptation becomes once we start negotiating with it. Once I've spent enough time explaining to myself why something might be okay, I'm probably not evaluating the decision anymore. Now I'm building a case for something that I already want to do. And I know I can't be the only person who's ever done that. Give us enough time and we can turn, I probably shouldn't do this into actually, now that I think about it, right? We start negotiating with ourselves and we start to make sense of things that we know are wrong or bad, wrong for us. We start to turn it around. And before long, now we've got exhibits, we have witnesses, we've got a closing argument, case closed. We have successfully convinced ourselves. That's why recognizing temptation early matters. James doesn't describe temptation as one sudden moment where a person goes from completely fine to making a terrible mistake. He describes movement. Desire draws us, something entices us. And then when desire is allowed to conceive, it gives birth to sin. And sin eventually produces consequences. There's a process happening between the first pull and the final decision. And that means there are places along the way where we can stop. I think sometimes we make resisting temptation harder because we wait until we're standing at the very end of that process before we decide what we're going to do. But by then, we've thought about it, imagined it, imagined it, justified it, and possibly created an entire argument for why this situation is different. And that's a hard place to suddenly become objective and to suddenly start thinking clearly, which is why knowing your patterns ahead of time matters. If anger makes you impulsive, you don't have to wait until you're furious with your phone in your hand to decide whether sending that text message is a good idea. Knowing loneliness has a history of pulling you toward unhealthy relationships can change what you do when that feeling shows up again. And if exhaustion changes the way you think, midnight probably isn't the best time to make a decision that could change your life. That's not fear, that's wisdom. And it's recognizing the setup early enough to make a choice before the desire starts making the choices for you. First Corinthians 10 13 gives us some encouragement here. Paul writes No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind, and God is faithful. I love that the verse doesn't begin by telling us how strong we need to be. Instead, it reminds us who God is. It says, God is faithful. Paul continues by saying that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. And when we are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that we can endure it. A way out. For a long time, I think I pictured that way out as being something dramatic, like God would somehow remove the temptation or make me suddenly stop wanting whatever I wanted. But I'm not sure that exit always looks like that. It could be as ordinary as ending a conversation before it goes any further, putting the phone down, going home, or deciding that whatever feels urgent tonight can probably wait until morning when you have a clear head, when you're thinking about it a little bit differently and you can make a better decision. The exit may not make the desire disappear. It just gives you somewhere else to go. And we still have to choose it. You still have to be intentional about your thoughts and taking that step and taking action. That matters because I think we can assume that if we're still struggling with the desire, we must not be resisting it very well. But resistance doesn't necessarily mean you stop wanting something. Sometimes resistance is choosing what you know is right while part of you still wants the other thing. Jesus was still hungry when he refused the bread, but his obedience didn't make his physical hunger disappear. He simply refused to let the hunger decide for him. And there's something else I've noticed about temptation. It can make things feel incredibly urgent. Whatever you want suddenly feels like something you need to settle, fix, answer, or satisfy right now. That urgency can make us stop asking questions. But not everything that feels urgent actually is. Sometimes a little space changes what we can see. If you sleep on it or talk to somebody that you trust, you get quiet long enough to pray, God, help me see this clearly. And then suddenly the thing that felt absolutely necessary 12 hours ago doesn't have quite the same hold on you. Sometimes when you give it a little bit of space, it's just a thing that you need to clear your mind and clear your thoughts and make the right choice. But that little bit of space can be the difference between reacting to a desire and deciding what you actually want to do with it. Which brings us back to the question we started with. What are you hungry for? And do you know when you're being tempted? So I'm not really asking whether you know right from wrong. I'm asking whether you know yourself well enough to recognize the moments when your desires and vulnerabilities begin changing the way you see what's in front of you. So this week, get curious about your patterns. I want you to think about the decisions you tend to regret and what was happening before you made them. Were you tired? Were you angry, lonely, feeling rejected? Had you been waiting so long for something that you were ready to make it happen yourself, you're not looking for a reason to beat yourself up. You're learning to recognize when you're hungry. Because once you recognize the hunger, you can stop and ask, what am I actually hungry for right now? And the answer might surprise you. The text you're waiting for might really be about reassurance. The thing that you're that's sitting in your online cart might be trying to provide comfort, winning the argument may have less to do with being right than wanting to know somebody actually hears you. When you understand the hunger underneath the urge, you can bring that to God. And now you're not just trying harder to avoid doing something wrong. You're learning yourself. You're recognizing the pattern, you're seeing the setup sooner, and you're giving yourself enough room to choose what actually feeds you. So, do you know when you're being tempted? Temptation doesn't always show up looking dangerous. Sometimes it looks reasonable because the hunger underneath it is real. Jesus really was hungry, and the bread really would have satisfied that hunger. But he knew that just because something could satisfy him in the moment didn't mean it was the right thing to reach for. And now that we're behind enemy lines, we're learning to recognize that distinction too. Because when you understand your hunger, recognize your vulnerable places, and know what tends to pull you off course, the setup becomes a lot easier to see. And once you see it, you don't have to take the bait. Until next time, keep asking, keep listening. And remember, just because you're hungry doesn't mean everything offered to you is meant to feed you. 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