A Yearning for God

There is a God-shaped vacuum in every man that only Christ can fill.” - St. Augustine

We were created for connection. Everything about our human makeup tells us that. And the one we were created to connect with first and foremost is our creator. We are meant to bond with and experience a closeness, relationship and identity in Him. Sin - no matter what kind - disconnects us from that life-giving fellowship with Him. That's why the answer to our sin problem isn't behavior management. It is a restoration of relationship experienced through the forgiveness and new life God offers us through Jesus' self-sacrifice on the cross in our stead. There he took all of our sin, guilt and shame making us right with Him. In the cross, we see a God who turned towards humanity with compassion and bent low to make things right.

There are times when we long for a relationship and connection with God. This is perfectly natural. Many times people answer this longing with a flippant pray more, read more, fast more solution. But the emotions are real. The longings are real. At the well with the Samaritan woman (in John 4) we don't find Jesus offering this kind of a solution to the woman who is longing for the living water. We find him offering a call to come on a journey of knowing Him even while he gently exposes her desire for connection - a desire met in unhealthy ways.

Perhaps no other Psalm articulates this longing better than Psalm 42.

1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalms 42:1-5

Here are Five Key Lessons we learn from this as we come face to face with those longings in our own heart?

All our longings are windows to our ultimate longing for God

Be it material wealth, the acceptance of our peers, the longing for pleasure - all of these longings point to a greater longing - a longing that can only be met in our Creator as he reveals himself and our true identity. The other day Jan was reflecting on how she through she was bringing out the worst in me. As I thought about it, I responded by saying that it's not her, but it's just that those issues were already a part of me. And life offers us the chance to deal with those issues - unmet needs, longings, unhealthy patterns of thinking, destructive patterns of responding to situations - all of these are rooted in a longing that exists within us that can ultimately be met in God. The longing is not the problem. The way we meet those needs is important to consider.

Engage in a Creative Expression of your longings

Here we find the Psalmist creatively expressing his desire for God in the form of a song. This a pattern throughout the Psalms. Where Psalmists regularly are honest and raw while at the same time creatively articulating what they are going through. Some of us journal, paint, sing, write songs, poetry - This is not only helps us get in touch with what we are actually going through but it also helps us pray and allow God into the journey of what's going on in our world.

Experiencing Spiritual lulls or coldness are part of the journey

We find here the Psalmist going through this experience of feeling like God is distant. He is crying, mourning while there are questions about his faith and the reality of God that people are mockingly asking him. In these moments remembering who our God is becomes vital.

I love how C. S. Lewis put it

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

There is an influence that God has over our lives as we continue to press on trusting in Him and it affects everything else in our lives. The hope that we have in Christ becomes an undercurrent despite the many ups and downs we face in life. It is normal to feel this. If for some reason you feel this spiritual numbness, just keep walking, God has a way of breaking through and helping us come alive again in our souls.

Sometimes you just have to stop praying and start talking to yourself

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.” - Martin Lloyd Jones.

There are times when we need to encourage ourselves, motivate ourselves, direct ourselves, and lead ourselves. Here's the psalmist choosing to get up and talk to himself. Choosing a different perspective and a different response to the normal. There is a response that the Spirit of God will lead you to in certain situations. In those moments, it's important to go beyond what we are feeling and start addressing it head on with the truth about How God sees it. How are you leading yourself today?

Choose Praise

You see the Psalmists response in Verse 5? He chooses to praise God. What happens when we Praise God? We remember who he is. We remember his nature, his promises, his love, and his works. We remember his greatness in the midst of everything we are going through and we remember like the Psalmist that He is our God (Lord of all) and our Saviour (who is still able). Choosing to praise unlocks a level of faith and hope in us that we may not have had the courage for. But it comes alive as we reflect on the truth of who our God is.

So let's think about this - leading our heart, choosing to praise, choosing to creatively express our longings before God - as we do this, to find a spring of life that will begin to tenderize our heart and help us hear and rejoice again in God.