Longings seem to be a theme with me lately. Since the beginning of this year, I have been pressing in hard. Pushing towards streams of living water overflowing from within. I am amazed that this is what is promised. Waters that satisfy my thirst... really?? Seems impossibile?? Our culture is one which longings never cease. We all want more, need more, we are never satisfied, not with ourselves, not with our spouse, not with our community, not with our government. We expect to find completeness in the American Dream or our vacations or our stuff or our home or our kids.
But...We also seem to long for impact. Even the most committed Christians I know seem to have a need to be fulfilled in their callings, in their gifts, in their role in this world. Yes, I believe many of these longings are God given. We long for fruitfulness innately as He created us to be fruitful and multiply. We long to care for the poor and needy, because it is His heart for them that is within us. But sometimes these longings can turn into the wrong thing. No, I am not saying it is wrong to pursue these things. But I know at times I have gotten caught up in the significance it can bring. It can become more about what I have done than who I have done it for. It can become frustrating when I don't see the results I am looking for. Or when I don't feel I have the opportunities I deserve or should be offered.
I am beginning to see that at times I have been focused on all the wrong things. I have been looking for significance, I have been turning to the wrong things to be filled. Even my actions of service, as pure and as holy as they may seem, will not fill my soul. No nothing fills my soul like Jesus. Nothing can satisfy the longings, not even the ones for significance, like My Savior and His majestic and powerful Spirit. So instead I am turning towards the spiritual disciplines to satisfy my soul....
1. Sabbath rest and solitude with God
2. Daily reading of God's word
3. Prayer
4. Repentance of Sin and the receiving of Forgiveness
5. Worship
6. Actively seeking the Holy Spirit
7. Fellowship with the Body of Christ (His Church)
8. Always being prepared to give an answer for the Hope that I have.
I can't expect to be filled up to satisfaction if I am not seeking the One who will fill me.
He won't stop using me for His glory, I will only become more fruitful and more effective. Because as He fills me up to overflowing, all that overflow comes out on those around me to bless them, encourage them, care for them, and grow them. It is when I am totally and completely consumed with Christ and all he has to offer me that I become more useful in His kingdom than I ever imagined. But the very best part of all, is that all the longings are satisfied because I am feeding and drinking from the one who satisfies. "Seek and you shall find...Knock and the door will be open to you." Won't you press into the Lord, into His word, into the Holy Spirit, allowing rest and solitude, giving yourself over to worship, fellowshipping with other believers, repenting of your wrongs, accepting His free gift of forgiveness, praying and reading of God's word. It will prove itself to fill you completely with an overflowing abundance of His Holy Spirit. It will satisfy your thirsty soul.
