Longing

Today would have been my Dad’s 90th birthday if he were still alive. He died about three years ago. I miss him. There are days when I would give anything to pick up the phone and just hear his voice again. My longing to see him and talk with him is something that God has given me. I don’t want to forget him and God doesn’t want me to. We are designed to long for things..to desire..to want. Our longing can either be an enemy or a friend. Our longing is a gift.

If we fight the urge to desire or want.. our hearts become dried up.. our spirits wither..our lives seem dull and meaningless. We were created for desire.. without it we would not be in relationship with God. We have to want more..to long for meaning..to desire truth or we will never seek Him. He is always seeking us..our desire brings us to the place where He can find us and begin to fulfill the longings..the very ones that He placed in our hearts.

Isn’t it strange that we try to kill our own hearts? We believe it is wrong to want things we don’t have. We find fault with ourselves when we have desires that are unfulfilled. Aren’t we supposed to be content? Yes. Being content and desiring good things that God has for us are not incompatible. We live in a strange tension where we rejoice in our lives as they are right now and at the same time desire to live more fully. God understands all this..it is a mystery to us.

So today.. I am longing to see Dad. Someday I will. It helps me long for the day when I will go where he is..to be more prepared for my eternal destiny. I look forward to being reunited with him..but I love living here in this amazing world waiting on God for all the new things that He has in store for me.

“Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will seee everything with perfect clarity. All I know now is partial and incomplete, but I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

 

The next corner..

Ever wonder what is around the next corner? I do. I would love a peek at what is waiting there. Unfortunately that is not life with God. He loves surprises and He enjoys giving us unexpected gifts. His larger plan is a mystery and I believe He likes it that way. Not because He wants to torture us..but because He wants to unfold it little by little as we trust Him. My life has been filled with so many twists and turns..so many surprises..I am amazed when I look back and see what I have been through. How did I get through it all Lord? His answer is ” I have been with you..holding on to you..preparing the way for you..taking care of you..providing for all of your needs..always looking after you.” Yes..I can see that so clearly now.

When I was in the middle of many of those experiences I thought they would never end. Spiritual amnesia..we all have it. We forget to remember that He has taken us through so much..He has carried us..healed us..His presence has sustained us. Our present trials cloud all this..we are tempted to fear the future..to expect the past to repeat itself..to hide from Him. We have this history so that we can run to Him and so we can be hopeful..filled with faith that He is for us.

The present may be very challenging..a trial may be around the next corner..we just don’t know. The only thing we do know is that He is with us..He cares for us..we belong to Him..He is our redeemer..the lover of our souls. He will protect us..guide us..lead us and comfort us. Our God is able to do much more for us than we can ever imagine.. He is in the eye of the storm..a peaceful refuge..

“He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow… His ways are not our ways..With God all things are possible.”