We face a new kind of evil.  We have never faced a threat like this before.  That is why God is creating special kinds of people to be used in special kinds of ways.  What do these people look like?

We picture bold, assertive, natural born leaders taking the stage.  We assume the Holy Spirit would instill great confidence and audacity in those He has selected for special service.

In fact, the opposite is true.  He inflicts those He chooses with deep frustrations.  They are restless, they are weakened by confusing emotions.  Often, they don’t feel very spiritual at all.  The greatest gift He gives them is a desperate hunger.

Yes, desperate hunger is a great gift.  Although, when you first get it, you will be convinced you are being punished not blessed.

Jesus said “blessed are those who hunger and thirst…”  It seems a contradictory statement but a closer look reveals eternal wisdom.  

God is carving out your soul to create a greater capacity for His power.  You are getting desperate for something—your appetite for that one thing is increasing.  It seems cruel but it makes perfect sense: God wants you to want something you can’t have.  It is in the not having it, that your desire intensifies.

The Bible says, “But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.” -1 Samuel 1:5,6

Look at that!  God is creating unbearable frustration.  But, by depriving her of children, it increased two things in her soul: Her willingness to sacrifice and her appreciation for the blessings when they come.  In other words, she will be an amazing example of willingness and appreciation.

God didn’t want Hannah to get over wanting Children.  He wanted her to yearn for them even more.  The end result is one of the most powerful women in history—the mother of Samuel the prophet.  In Jewish tradition, Samuel is second only to Moses as a prophet.

Hannah’s total reward often goes unnoticed.  True, she surrendered her first born to God but it says in 1 Samuel 2: 21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”

It was Elisha’s insatiable hunger for the anointing that made him ask for a double portion from Elijah.   Many, of today’s leaders ask for just enough to get by.  They will never destroy the strongholds of Satan.  They fold at the first sign of resistance.  Not so, the vessel born of desperate hunger.  When they finally get their chance, they will never stop, and they will never corrupt their God-given stewardship.  Your frustration and desperate hunger is qualifying you for something astounding.

All of this is well and good but it is not a great comfort when you are in the depths of frustration.  Desperate hunger from God can test us to the maximum.  We look for signs that our hunger will be fulfilled.  We yearn for proof that we will not die from disappointment.  Well beloved, the proof is right under our nose.  In fact, the hunger itself is the proof of the fulfillment.

Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.”-Matthew 5:5  In other words, if you hunger, you are blessed because that is the proof you shall be filled.

Alexander MacLaren the great Bible Commentator said this, “that hunger is the sure precursor and infallible prophet of the coming satisfaction.”