What are your longings telling you?

“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 NLT

Have you ever craved something to the point that you found yourself obsessing over it? That’s exactly where I found myself on a recent hike. Somewhere between the trail of greenery that I had left behind me, and the winding road that lay before me, I couldn’t stop thinking about water and how thirsty I was. I pride myself on hydrating as a discipline, but knowing and doing are two different things once your physiology gets involved. Was that rain? Is that a bubbling brook I hear? We have less than ten minutes left on this hike, and then I am going to guzzle myself in front of a water fountain.… I don’t care who’s watchin. Every thought revolved around the idea of how soon I could get to water and how quickly I could satiate my thirst. Once I was able to drink, it was nothing short of miraculous. The very thing I was longing for was the very thing to fill and satisfy me. As I drank, the water flowed through my body like the intricate branches in a delta bed. Steady, cool, and refreshing it soothed every nook and cranny as my thirst was abated. The only thing I was longing for was finally fulfilled. 

I think if we will listen, our longings have a lot to say to us. Deep calls out to deep, and the gift of longing is to take us straight to Jesus to be filled as only he can do.

But, is that what we really do?

Listen, I am a sucker for a good distraction. At this point in the game, there are so many things that vie for our attention….it is so easy to get pulled off course. A silly message  a friend sent me, a few memes on social media, a couple loose ends around the house….or a good mystery show and I’m hooked. All it takes is a bad day, and I’m tempted to be drawn to whatever lures me in. While I am all for unplugging and stepping away from what is stressful, I think there is also something to the idea of stewarding our inner longings. When we are truly thirsty there is one thing and one thing alone that we need to satisfy ourselves: a deep connection to Jesus. 

The thing is, we have to watch for and steward our longings. Not all longings are good, and every longing has the potential of a siren-like call to drag us out to sea. There’s a difference between being thirsty for water, getting distracted by what’s around us, and being so desperate that other than what we are longing for, nothing else will do. It’s our choice where we take what we’re craving, but the call of Jesus is to fulfill us in his presence. There’s a time and a place to wander the forest, but there is also a time and a place to head straight for the stream. 

Our job isn’t to make it rain, or control the ways of water, we bring our longings directly to the source and allow the Living Water to fill and fulfill that longing. 

When we’re longing for friendship, he reveals he’s the best of friends.

When we’re broken he reveals the infinite power of his healing ability.

When we’re restless he reveals his outrageous ability to know what we need.

And when we’re thirsty, he reveals himself as the Living Water.

Our place is to be found seeking out, waiting on and resting in Him.

May we all be found taking the longings of our heart straight to the One who can fill them in every way.

So much love,

Joy