Guest Feature: Pursing Renewal (Pt. 1): Hunger

Guest: Miranda Trudeau

Website: Thriving Home Co

Socials: Instagram

Bio: I’m Miranda, but friends call me Mira. I am a midwest mama of two sweet boys & wife to the best hubs, Jeffrey. I am passionate to help other families create a thriving home - one filled with peace, joy, love, and intention.

Pursing Renewal (Part 1): Hunger

There’s a considerable difference between knowing God and knowing about God. Many of us have grown up in faith environments since we were little and we have established such a foundational knowledge of who God is, what He values, and what He expects. For some of you reading, maybe this faith journey is new to you - you are just stepping into exploring who our Creator is and who He made us to be. On my own walk with the Lord and as I’ve walked alongside many others in their journey, I’ve seen one thing to be true above all else: it is immensely easier to know about God than it is to truly pursue knowing God.

Many times in my life, I have found myself at a crossroads moment where I’m met with the choice to press deeper into the anxiety and depression I am feeling or turn and pursue the Father. Do you relate? Honestly, in every difficult moment and in every tough season, we are always met with this choice - do I continue to sink into the weight of what is happening around me, or do I look “up” and reach for the Savior? These moments often are the turning points in our lives as we explore if we think that the depth of our relationship with the Father can withstand what is going ‘wrong’. Well, dear friend, when we finally choose the path back to our Creator, we find a foundation full of redemption, renewal, peace, and rest - one we were created to crave.

From the beginning of time, actually before it, the Father was there. Before we go any further, I want to address something - and I know there can be a lot of feelings about this. There are so many ways to refer to the Father, the Savior, our Creator. He has many names spoken of Him throughout Scripture, and I have found in my own walk that in moments of intimacy and connection, I prefer to call Him Papa. He is my Papa, a close, close Father who is a central part of my life and daily walk. But regardless of what you call Him, He was there. In the beginning. Living fully with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The three of them all together in a beautiful unity and family - the true view of what family should look like. Well, then, in all their unity and depth of relationship, they wanted more - they wanted you. From before the beginning of time, you were a thought, a desire, in the mind of the Father.

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you born I consecrated you;

I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 

Jeremiah 1:5 NASB

You were chosen, son or daughter. You were chosen and desired and created in the most beautiful way by the Father - with intentionality. And forever, our soul craves for the realization of our unity and connection with Him. It craves for that foundation of rest and redemption. Our entire being cries out for the Father and I genuinely believe that every single desire that we were created with can be fulfilled in a close walk with Him. 

So that, today, is where I meet you from. My entire soul is craving for Him. My entire being is crying out to understand not only who He is, but truly to live this life knowing Him deeply and intimately. And I am boldly assuming here, you crave that too. There is a hunger inside of you to truly know your Creator - not just know about Him. Honestly the only comparison I can think of is how It’s like when we taste a good thing - we just can’t get enough of it.

I went to a restaurant once with my sister and some friends. We were celebrating her birthday and decided to splurge and do a nice dinner out. We chose a beautiful restaurant, with a great ambience, and a delicious menu. I sat down, got cozy, ordered my drink, and after some perusing of my options, I landed on ordering a Jumbalaya. Now, this is not normally my first choice at a restaurant, and I know this sounds absolutely insane, but something called to me about this Jumbalaya, y’all. I cannot even begin to express how I still think about that Jumbalaya to this day. It could have been a mix of the company and the celebration, but when I walked out of that restaurant that evening, the standard that Jumbalaya had set for all future Jumbalaya’s I am to consume was HIGH.

When you taste something good, you want more of it. You think about it. You crave it. You wake up at night ready to find a way to Uber-eats it. You can’t get enough of it and no substitute will satisfy; you want the real thing, and you want it now.

What if we allowed the hunger we have for the Lord to manifest in this way in our lives as well? What if we surrendered to the craving and allowed our souls to realize that we just can’t get enough of Him? I truly believe that even just the act of unleashing that hunger and allowing that craving to surface will bring breakthrough to your life in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. There is blessing in recognizing the hunger, but there’s even more blessing in eating.

When you’re hungry, you have to eat, right?

Knowing about God only increases the hunger, it doesn’t fulfill the craving. So, what does? His Presence. Consuming Him. Knowing Him. Getting close to Him. Allowing your heart to get involved in your mind’s affairs.

You see, when we pursue knowledge about our Creator we are engaging our mind. We are using our intellect to try to deepen our understanding of something that in many ways, is impossible to understand. But the Lord didn’t stop by only creating our mind as a way to navigate the world - He also created our hearts. Our hearts consume and understand things in a way our minds never could. Fulfilling the hunger we were born with isn’t about engaging our minds and understanding the Father, it’s about engaging the heart and pursuing knowing the Father intimately.

This process costs something though. It costs something so expensive that some will never give it - could never even fathom it.

It costs surrender.

And in surrender, there’s deep vulnerability. 

It’s terrifying.

Our pursuit of renewal in our lives starts with one thing - hunger. It starts with recognizing, calling out, and unleashing the internal craving we have for Him. The surrender to release the hunger, and the vulnerability to open our hearts and allow our Father to enter in leads to encounters with His Presence that fulfill every single space of lack. Spending time with Him, getting to know Him, talking to Him, consulting Him, walking with Him, fulfills that craving in ways we could never imagine. Ephesians 3:20 NASB says, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory …” He can fulfill us to the extent that we ask for - and more.

When Papa shows up, our cup overflows.

When Papa enters our hearts, all anxieties cease.

When we walk alongside Papa, fears cannot exist.

I heard somewhere once that in the world, hunger is initiated by not eating, but in the Kingdom, hunger is initiated by eating. By consuming. By pursuing. Our hunger increases as our time in the Presence increases - because when we taste and see how good He truly is, we can’t get enough - it’s giving “Jumbalaya energy”, right?

Our beings need consistent rhythms of time in His Presence. Sometimes, this can look like worship, hands raised, mouth open, heart pouring out. Sometimes this is simply sitting in a quiet room listening to His voice. Sometimes it looks like devouring His word, consuming His heart on paper so that we can get to know Him even deeper and more intimately. It looks like quiet prayers in the car in between dropping our kids off at their engagements. It looks like desperate tears during a disagreement with our spouse. It looks like “Papa help …” while washing the 100th dish in your sink. 

The Father doesn’t dictate when His Presence is accessible, because it always is. He is in us and around us and through us and before us and behind us. He always is. As he said to Moses, “I Am …” … there’s no stipulations on his Presence, He just is. The gap for us in moments is our unawareness of just how close He is. It’s our buried hunger that needs to come to life. It’s a renewing of our mind - truly. 

Fellow son or daughter, my dear friend, unleash that hunger. If you desire refreshing and renewal in your life in this season, if you want to overcome the hardest issues like anxiety, depression, fear, hatred, and more … pursue His Presence. I know that hunger is deep inside of you. I know you feel the sense that there is something more to be had in this life. I know you have this innate sense that there’s something missing for you - that faith can’t just be going to church and reading your bible and reciting the songs and prayers.

I know firsthand that there is more in Him for you. No matter where you are at on your walk, there is more. Oh, the joy that can be found when you start to engage with Him is indescribable. Moments with Papa can fill every empty space, every need, every desire. Unleashing the hunger is like recognizing the need and opening the door for Him to fill it. The longer we keep the door shut, the longer we keep Him out. 

And if there’s one thing I absolutely, positively, never want to experience? A life without deep, deep connection with Papa.

Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

~Miranda Trudeau