02 May 25 Post # 191 " Infatuation& The Food Court"
Howdy! Welcome once again. I think that we usually think of struggles as a negative or not such a good thing. I don't know about you, but for myself struggles , not always, but often produces something in my life , that I would not have received the benefit of, without the struggle. There is some growing that takes place. I will often ask God , why does the learning most times is accompanied by some sort of pain, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, and even sometimes it's a financial decision that will inflict pain in our lives. Maybe it's a no brainer, because pains usually makes a much deeper and lasting impression on us than good times do . I might wrestle with what was my favorite vacation spot, but I don't usually have to think very long or hard about painful events that I have experienced. So!, I guess that my final answer would be that struggles aren't always a bad thing. Maybe it's good to remember hard times , and to just put safe guards in place, so we don't end up living out of our car again ☺️☺️.
Infatuation is an interesting word and I don't think that its used much any more , because I usually think that its pretty closely related to some kind of lust that we have going on in our lives. It's not always a sexual lust, I can remember days in another life ago when my lust may have been about revenge and getting even with someone, and I'm so thankful that I don't think along those lines anymore. Still there is something about being charmed with something that leads us to some kind of uncontrollable desire. Sure hormones can play a part and it's often the thing that prompts the " L" word into being thrown around much earlier than it actually is☺️☺️. My children and grandchildren are usually low hanging fruit, when it comes to some of my illustrations ☺️. My seventeen year grandson got caught by his mother telling some girl over the phone that he loves her. My daughter called him out, just because it's one of her favorite activities ☺️☺️. She said you guys haven't even been dating for two weeks, and my grandson said, "she said it first". He felt it was the proper response, so that her feelings wouldn't be hurt. I wonder how many people have died on that hill☺️☺️. It mostly just points to how people, especially teenagers don't know what real and true love actually is and how easily people throw that four letter word around. I wish that I could tell you that only teenagers got that wrong, but sadly that's just not true. My daughter wants to know what's wrong with teenage girls and young women, because according to her there is some unspoken rule, that the females are never supposed to say it first ☺️☺️.
I think that if we looked at it closely or studied it, we would see that infatuation is the complete opposite of unconditional love. That's right, it's more of a transaction, we give to get. That is mostly how the world works, as George Michael's said, " I want your sex" . I want that , so I'm willing to give you mine and we can put a bow on it by calling it love. That may have been to straight forward or just to much in your face, so let's dial it back a bit☺️☺️. We can say very much the same thing about certain people and certain types of friendships. We don't always recognize it for what it is, when it comes to some of the mutuality of friendships , but it really shows up in the advent of a disagreement and both parties think that the other owes them an apology, and both are unwilling to take that first step. If its a friendship that you can just disposes of without a second thought, then you definitely need a higher quality of friends☺️☺️ It's probably a little to idealistic on my part, but it appears to me that real and genuine friendship seek to close the gap immediately or soon as possible, oppose to letting it fester and becoming more of a canyon. I'm not saying that friends never have a falling outs, that would just be ridiculous. What I am saying is that it's more about how you handle the disagreement and if its managed in a timely manner or not, with grace and forgiveness as a cornerstone . Feuds start that way and can exist for years or generations depending on what it is☺️☺️.
I think that I've already stated that infatuation is not love, even though they can look very similar at times. They can both produce certain euphoric emotions and feelings. Sometimes they start out very similarly, but over time one will fade and dissipate like the morning fog and the other will grow into a rich and deep commitment of wanting to put someone before yourself . I wonder if you guys remember the malls when they use to be in their hay day and just bustling with people? Many of them had a Food Court and they would send an employee out , just to the edge of the Court area with samples. They would offer you a piece of chicken on a tooth pick, hoping to lure you in to patronize their establishment. It wasn't enough to satisfy your appetite, but it's design was to remind you that you were hungry and that there were options close by☺️☺️. They were giving you something to get something, and they were betting on the infatuation of the smell and that little nibble would get you to pull out your wallet.
Let's just for a second look at and consider a classic example of infatuation verses love. The Bible tells a story of Jesus feeding five thousand people. He performed a miracle with a kid's lunch of a few fish and a couple loaves of bread and somehow after everyone ate their fill, still managed to have twelve baskets of leftovers. Just pretty miraculous and I'm sure that you would agree. ☺️ The story goes on to tell how He sent the crowds away and His disciples to the other side of the lake. Everything that Jesus did was intentional and for some purpose. Teaching times were always on full display. He Himself went off to a quiet place to pray. There is a little bit of an interlude, as His" A " team was struggling against the currents, fearful once again that they would drown, as Jesus comes casually walking on the water. It's a pretty neat story and it's recorded in all four of the gospels and that didn't even come close to being a good footnote, so please read it for yourself. We want to get back to the Food Court ☺️. The very next day the same people from the day before had ran to meet them on the outside of the lake. They were looking for Jesus. Were they looking for Him because they understood that He was the light of the world?, I don't believe so! Were they looking for Him because they understood that the kingdom of God was at hand, and that He was ushering it in? No, I don't believe so. Maybe it was because He was a dynamic teacher of God's word and taught it with real authority? Perhaps a few! The majority of the crowd was looking for more bread, they wanted another free lunch.
We will get back to how we know that they were just about having their bellies full in a second. They just saw Jesus as someone who could provide food for them, they never saw the something more. The something more is really important, because however we see God or the things that we believe about God and who He is determines all of actions, thoughts and beliefs . If we only see God as a food dispensary, then we will never be able to see Him as a mountain mover. If we only see Jesus as a good moral teacher, with incredible insights, then we miss the majesty of creation and it being spoken into existence, out of nothingness. Two things are true. The things that Jesus does, tells us things about who Jesus is. The things that we believe about God including our emotions, don't tells us who God is, but reveals things about our faith, and it's strength, weaknesses or just flaws in our faith foundation.
The feeding of the five thousand was supposed to be just a taste, or sample of what the kingdom is ushering in. It wasn't supposed to be the main course. It was Jesus standing just at the edge of the food court with a sample of something that would be so much greater than just a morsal or a quick meal. Jesus is thinking and offering eternal life, and they are still concerned with the temporary comforts of having a full belly and not so much about eternal security. He is offering true love and they are only infatuated with their own expectations of what He could provide for them. They expected little, so they received little. Maybe it just points to how fickled we can be as human beings and to how we can be so short sighted and getting wrapped up into what we want. In the very near future, they would show you what it looks like to miss the point and a version of being hangry☺️☺️.
What's that saying? Everyone loves a winner!! Jesus riding on a beast of burden, He rides into town and the crowds praise Him. They throw down their garments and palm leaves before Him, just knowing that He is about to set up His kingdom and expel the current oppressive regime. They wanted Him as king, just as long as it met their expectations as to what a king is supposed to be. Less than a week later the praises would turn into jeers and echoes of crucify Him was repeated over and over again to drown out any semblance of sanity. A triumphant entry into Jerusalem says winner, hanging on a cross, doesn't actually say winner, champion, or king. A king is still a king, regardless of what our expectations are, and whether they are met or not.
Most people are pretty self aware of wants and needs in their lives and often that can be the beginning of the infatuation journey. We are aware of something lacking in our lives. We are aware for a need for shelter and in our heads it may look something like a mansion, because I deserve it and I don't want to sell myself short☺️☺️. The desire could be just about anything, a mate, a baby, a better job, or even to be educated better. It really doesn't matter what it is, but it pushes us to lust after it with an uncontrollable desire to possess or achieve what ever it is. On a more basic level, it could be that we are hungry, or cold or uncomfortable from some other basic need in life. The things that every other thing is built upon...those basic needs. I'm hungry, so I'm going to feed myself, that is what we do when faced with that. We spend so much time chasing after and trying to satisfy certain objections in our lives, but miss out on one of our most basic needs in life , and if you guessed coffee, it's just a runner up☺️☺️. It's the need to take care of the spiritual hungers in our lives. How do we neglect such a huge and essential part of who we were created to be?
It's like going to the doctor because you don't feel well, and just can't put your finger on whatever it is. It could be this or it could be that, and then it's a few other things that memic those very same symptoms, which on occasions can produce a wrong diagnosis. Who among us hasn't been there?☺️☺️. So it is for us , we self diagnosis and self medicate, never considering that the diagnosis of a new house , boat or baby, may not actually be the cause for what is ailing us, but that we are just spiritually starved or starving. The infatuation is drawing us away from something that will be lasting and something that will turn into a rich and meaningful relationship. We choose the quick, cheap alternative which will fade and dissipate over time. It's really doesn't matter how many cool vacations we take, at some point they will all become a distant and fading memory. Does being spiritually hungry produce spiritual " hangryness" ? I believe so! It can be a little crazy at times, we get mad at the doctor for telling us what is actually going on and is wrong, when that is precisely the reason that we went to the doctor in the first place. We want the doctor to tell us that it can be over come with diet and exercise, but when he tells us that it's something so much more serious and that it can only be addressed an overcome by yielding your life to a particular discipline and some major knee mail, we aren't usually interested in a change in what we have been doing for so long, which is usually the thing that got us here in the first place☺️☺️. We sometimes want to take it out on the messenger, when we have just had this nagging annoyance for years, that was telling us that something was off and not just right, but we chose to ignore it.
I don't know if its strange, weird or just stupid, that we will continue to choose the things that don't work for us and we have all sorts of evidence that it hasn't worked for us , and we just refuse to own it. It's like looking over the wrap sheet of a career criminal, thirty plus years is telling us this is not a good person, but we want to release them back into society, crossing our fingers , hoping that this time will be different, good luck with that☺️☺️. Until the pain becomes greater than the discomfort of finding ourselves some place that we have been way to many times before....we will just usually find ourselves stuck in the rinse and spin cycle without ever being clean and a new beginning. God is always for us and wants the best for us and that is why He came. Certain things are meant to wet our appetite for more. How amazing that it could be for you, if you could put away your selfish unsuccessful pursuits and turn to God and not have to live on just the samples at the edge of the food court.
There is something known as common grace. It's where we all get to experience certain aspects of God's love and character, such as the sun rising and setting and a million and one other things that God has placed here for us to enjoy. We all benefit from those kinds of things, but the wonderful things that God has stored up for those who love Him and are in the family of God, makes this place seem like a trash dump, as beautiful as it can be at times. Maybe it's time to stop settling and looking in from outside and actually become a part of God's family.
