Meditation
 
LONGING FOR HIM Dr. Joseph Stowell
 
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalm 42:1
 
We all have longings. Longings for sleep, food, friends, safety, pleasure, and enough money to be comfortable. The list is long and seemingly without end. But if you were to list an honest accounting of what you really long for, I wonder if longing for God would be at the top. Or would it even have made the list?
 
If you like fishing, you know that casting out a line and pulling it back is essentially what it’s all about. It is not going through the routine that counts, but how you do it. Doing it well takes the lure deep into the territory where the fish feed. Or you can yank the lure back quickly and simply skim the surface. Lots of expended energy with no satisfying results.
After a fast-paced first half of ministry life, I have an unquenchable desire to slow down and go deeper in my walk with Christ.
 
I want to meet Him in the depths of my soul, away from the stress and press of everything on top. I want Jesus to fulfill my deepest longings. We are built for a relationship with God. All of life is about searching to fill the void that sin and separation from Him have created within. Filling the emptiness with piles of things, earthly friendships, and short term satisfying experiences, ultimately proves to yield less than what we had hoped for. Jesus is the only One who fits.
 
Underneath the layers of stuff, self-centered pursuits, and substitute satisfactions is a longing to know more of Him—to relate more fully, more intimately, more experientially with Him. Slow down. Pull back the layers and ask yourself in the depths of your being if it isn’t a closer walk with Him that you really desire.
 
Let your heart sing, “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?” Psalm 42:1-2
 
What would it take to get more in touch with the Satisfier of your soul? Slowing down? More time in prayer and the Word? Dealing with the sin that separates?