Thirsting For A Living God
There are three large screen TVs in the break area at my office, and every morning, without fail, they are all tuned to news stations. As I go about my work day, the reporters’ voices echo through the building repeating stories of violence, terror, and hate. Even if I can avoid the sounds, my eye is caught by the headlines that scroll arcoss the bottom of the screen: Murder, Shooting, Natural Disaster. If I’m not careful, I can let hopelessness slip into my thoughts and actions, and then, before I know it, my life is indistinguishable from that of an unbeliever. How can we maintain our God-given hope and faith in the face of such evils facing the world?
The author of Psalm 42 must have felt the same hopelessness when considering the power of sin in the world: “I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go stand before him?” (Psalm 42:2). The Psalmist calls God a living God. Why is this a necessary detail? Because we need to see Him in stark contrast to the world. Against the backdrop of sorrow and death, He is good, He is holy, He is love.
“My enemies continually taunt me, saying ‘where is this God of yours?’” -Psalm 42:3
This is the devil’s favorite question. He used it on Eve back in Genesis 3 and he continues to use it today, hoping to dull the power of our faith with doubt and distrust. As if that was not enough, the devil is doubly effective when shame for struggling with that very doubt and trust for God enters. This is the strategy for taking God’s people out of commission. IS God really good? I know the Bible says He is, but now I’m not sure. Like Peter, we begin to sink as we take our eyes off of Jesus - even for a split second - to observe the “raging seas”.
Take heart, friend, because God knows we are weak and He does not leave us to sink and drown, but always reaches out to steady our balance when we cry out to Him. As His daughters, we have full access into His storehouse of spiritual riches (Eph. 3:20). His love is poured out on us continually through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). This is how the desire for intimacy with God is created in us. No one and no thing in creation is able to generate desire and longing for God, except God himself (1 Cor. 12:3)
It’s the love poured out over us that replenishes our parched beings at the end of a long day. Not approval from the world, pleasant circumstances or the absence of sorrow, only His live-giving love. God knows we become parched and weak, unless we take every opportunity to drink in the Spirit’s offerings.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” -John 4:13-14
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly writes from her home in Ojai, CA where she also works full time as wife to Marco, mama to Lydia, and account specialist for a software company. She loves rain, early morning runs, and long road trips. Her happy place is a certain table at a local coffee shop with a pen, an empty notebook, and a few hours (and probably a few lattes!). Her writings can be found over at mollylgonzalez.com.