Day Twelve
“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” Psalm 42:1-2
Sometimes I think that if I could crave God like I do food, I would be the most spiritual person alive! Wouldn’t it be nice that if when our souls became hungry for God that our hearts could grumble like our stomachs do when its hungry for food? That we got some kind of hunger pamg to remind us to draw near to the Lord? Well, I believe we that does happen, just not in the most obvious ways. I don’t know about you, but when I haven’t had my quality time with Jesus, things tend to spin out of control. I start leaning on my own understanding and strength… and we all know how well that works out. I become more easily agitated and frustrated and my patience and tolerance level seems to plummet. Sometimes I can see it happening and then quickly get back on track and run to the saving arms of my Lord. Other times, I am so oblivious to Jesus calling me back that I run straight into the brick wall in front of me. Then of course, after the breakdown, go crawling and staggering my way back to Jesus to heal me and restore the broken mess I made of my life. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you been here?
I believe that God placed the desire and longing for himself within every human being, but only a few have figured out that he is the only one who can satisfy that longing. We try so hard to fill that void in our hearts with everything else under the sun, from relationships to material possessions. We all feel that longing that he’s placed there inside of us, our hearts do actually get hunger pangs or heart aches for the one our soul craves. We just have to learn to identify it for what it really is, and feed it with what it longs for instead of the cheap substitute that the world gives. We can try over and over again to fill that void with the wrong things, but will only be satisfied temporarily then left hungry once again. Jesus says in John 4:13-14, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” He knew that we would try to fill the void in our hearts with other things of this world. That’s why when he left Earth to prepare our place in heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to take up residence inside us. Jesus was not omnipotent in his time on earth, he couldn’t be with everyone all at the same time. His power was limited in his feeble human skin, so he sent his spirit to fill that void in our hearts and lives. He said, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27
My prayer is that by reading this, that you wouldn’t feel guilty for not spending time with God and avoiding reading your Bible, but that you would be encouraged to start pressing in to him. I pray that you feel that hunger and thirst in your soul and begin to crave the only one who can deeply satisfy your every need. I that when the deserts of life begin to take over, that you would recognize the thirst for your Lord, not the temporal things of this world.
Today’s Exercise: Sweat!
Your body is made up of about 70% of water and (I’m sure that you already knew this) when you sweat, you need to replace that moisture in your body. So, today, do something that will help you work up a good sweat. Maybe go to the gym and take a cardio class, take a jog around the neighborhood or maybe even deep clean the house (for all you multi-taskers out there). Then when you’ve worked up a good sweat, listen to your body and feel the thirst. Let it remind you of your thirst for God and the satisfaction that only he can bring. Then of course, take a big drink of water…and even more living water.