Desperate for God

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?  Psalms 42:1–2

I don’t know about you, but when I read the beginning verses of Psalm 42, a song comes to mind. If you are like me, that song will now be stuck in your mind for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.

Weather you like the song or not, have even heard it or not, the psalm which it quotes in an interesting one. The song is melodic and slow, peaceful; almost like a scene from Bambi – lush forest and flowing streams. The sentiment of the psalmist is far different than that. The idea of the writer of the psalm is desperation, drought and desert; A deer dying of thirst, longing to find a source of water, panting, searching to find the life saving drops of a stream. The psalmist is painting a picture of his soul, desperate, panting, thirsting for God.

I an convinced that few of us rarely thirst for God that way. I believe few of us seek the presence of God with desperation. When life circumstances go bad, when we get to the end of our rope, we often find ourselves there, but short of that, the busyness, stresses, concerns and distractions of each day leave no room for desperately longing for more of God.   

These past couple weeks in our study of Roman’s we have heard Paul’s words about the wrath of God toward evil and of the sin that so permeates all of our lives. These words are not intended to make us “feel bad,” but to invite us into a better way, a fuller way. That may sound odd, but the reality is that we simply cannot understand the amazing gift of grace and life that God has freely given us if we do not understand the depth of our brokenness, the consequences of our sin and the need for daily need for that grace. We need to see our sin -- and the corresponding grace on God's part -- in order to be desperate for Jesus, to experience the righteousness that is from God and be desperate for it, because it is not in us through ourselves. Desperation for Jesus changes us; it causes us to "pant" for him. It causes us to long for him. It causes us to seek him. It causes us to worship him and to experience the joy, peace and freedom that is found in him. God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."(Jeremiah 29:13)

- Are you desperate for Jesus?

- Have you been desperate in the past?

- Take an inventory today of every time you seek your way and not God’s.

- When you realize your sin, think about the reality that God sees you as perfect and holy because of what Jesus did.

- Consider taking some time each night this week to walk prayerfully inventory your connection with God each day. Here is a tool to help you do that called the prayer of Examen which I think you will find useful. 

Feel free to let me know your thoughts and experiences. Talk to others about them as well. 

Peace, hope and love

Doug