In Times of Refreshing
“As the deer pants
for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2)
Imagine a deer on the run as it is being chased by its
enemies. It’s on its last leg, mouth
dry, panting hard, longing desperately for refreshing water. This was the kind of thirst the psalmist is
talking about. Perhaps he felt like a
hunted man, as though he was on his last leg. Whether his situation was real or imagined, he
was clear about what he needed, “My soul
thirsts for God.” He longed and
mourned after the living God. Just as
the physical body thirsts for water, so do our souls, but it is a thirst that
can only be quenched in God. Jesus said
to the woman at the well, “…but whoever
drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John
4:14)
One of the wonderful things about Scripture is the way it
can speak to us where we are. In this
way, Scripture reaches out to us, identifies with us, and also points us to
Christ. This is certainly the case with
these verses. Do we hear the cry of our
hearts, when doubts plague us, and when we feel distant and apart from the
Lord? Are we not, as the psalmist does,
longing for the presence of God?
It’s in these times that God comes and refreshes us, and
by this refreshing there comes growth. But
often we need to be in this place of desperation before we can truly hunger and
thirst after God, and cry out to Him with all our hearts. We don’t have the same desperation when we’re
happily going through life, so God allows these desert experiences that causes
us to pant, and long for the water of God. If you need refreshing today, come to Him, drink
deeply, and you will be satisfied. May
we, by God’s grace, know what it is to long for Him with every fiber of our being.
And may we find fulfillment and refreshment in His word
and in His presence.
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you
to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace
with God.
