We have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:23

People sometimes say that we have a God-shaped hole inside of us, and that as long as we are separated from God, we will never be satisfied. However, I don't think I can agree with that. I'm sure that all of us know how easy it is to become absorbed with our own needs and desires, ignoring God for a time, and even being quite happy during that time. And billions of people around the world manage to survive without knowing God at all. There are people who are consistently happy, and people who are in deep depression. This is true of both Christians and non-Christians. 

Let me try an analogy to explain my thinking. Now this idea came to me during a massive roadtrip, and I may have been a bit sleep-deprived, and my knowledge of the human brain is a bit rusty, but I think the idea still works.

Say you have a good cup of coffee. It smells good, it tastes good, and you enjoy it in the company of friends. Your brain takes these events and sends signals through the reward pathways in your brain. Your brain remembers these events and forms new connections to reinforce these signals. From now one, you'll probably be more likely to get coffee and more likely to enjoy coffee. Your next cup of coffee may be even better because you have the good memories from the previous time. This function of the brain usually works fine to bring good things to the body, but there are instances where these reward pathways are abused.

One of the main theories of drug addiction is that certain drugs stimulate the brain's reward pathways to such an extent that everything else is ignored in the pursuit of more drugs. The brain desires the pleasure that the drug brings so much that concerns about food, shelter, money and friends are all forgotten. A person will steal, live in the streets, and basically ruin their life in order to get more drugs. In a sense, the brain is wired for the possibility of drug addiction. 

Our experiences of God act on our soul just like drugs act on our brain. The presence of God in our lives completely overwhelms our entire being. We are filled with such an incredible desire for more God that everything else fades away. This is why we are able to give of ourselves, to ignore our needs and desires, to help others. It's not because we are good people, but because we must. We are compelled to get closer to God. Our souls are wired for the possibility of God addiction. 

It's not really a God-shaped hole, but for Christians it's more like withdrawal symptoms. We are filled with a deep yearning for God, because he has touched our lives, he has loved us. We need another hit, we need more God. We can only go without meeting God for a little while before we start getting the shakes, feeling bad, feeling empty. Pattiann described her desire and need for her Sunday morning prayer times by saying 'This is not normal.' It's not normal, it's an uncontrollable addiction. 

And here's the best part. (That verse was put up there for a reason.) This is just a foretaste of what's to come. A foretaste of the future glory that awaits us. This little bit of God that we experience now is just a tiny hint of the fullness of God. And this foretaste completely overwhelms and transforms us. We get this little taste and we're completely addicted. Just imagine how glorious it will be to be released from sin and suffering, to experience our full rights, and to live in new bodies. 

It's not the most flattering image to compare our experience of God with drug addiction, but I think it really works. We are addicted. There's no recovery programs, and no methadone clinics. We're completely dependent. We need more God.