Our Longing For God
As we approach the time of Easter and our Lord’s Death and Resurrection, we must remember His sacrifice for us and our salvation. Our hearts should be longing for Him. Our thoughts and prayers should be focused on Him, as He is the only one who can help us through this time of turmoil. as the world if full of evil. We, as the Israel nations should be an example to the rest of the world, because f our Holy God, who is creator of all living things. Instead, we have gone our own way thinking that we know best and don’t need Him. Where has that gotten us? It has gotten us into a place of deep darkness where sin abounds. We are now in a spiritual war like never before. Our enemies are strong, but our Holy God and Saviour is stronger, and it is to Him that we long for day and night. At this time, we should be in a state of preparedness to meet Him. In the Anglican time of Lent there is a 40-day period before Easter to humble ourselves and reflect on our relationship with the Lord. As I was thinking on this, I thought how interesting that Noah spent 40 days in the Ark preparing for the new world, the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, preparing to go into the Promised Land and Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, preparing for His Ministry and all that followed.
Perhaps these 40 days leading up to Jesus Death and Resurrection should be a time for us, especially in these troubling times, to be preparing ourselves as well as helping others to meet our Lord. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name:That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:5-11)
Be still and know that I am God. These words came to me as I was walking my dog the other day. He had been having trouble walking and I was feeling stressed about what to do for him. When these words came to my mind, I remembered they are from Psalm 46:9-11, one of my favourite psalms. “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.TheLordof hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”
God is our refuge and strength. He is the one we long for to heal our broken world and to awaken His Israel people and the rest of the world, as to who He is. Remembering these words helped me with the process of getting an operation for my dog and to start his healing as well as my own. I have been blessed with many good people in my life and many prayers went out for his healing. Knowing that God was there with him, and the surgeon was very comforting to me. He had the operation yesterday and is doing well today.
I believe through our longing for God we are to humble ourselves and seek His face and follow Him. He is always there for our preparing us for His return.
