Here lately, I have been living in a season where I am reminded of my complete and utter reliance on the Lord. I’ve had conversations with fellow church members, I have taught the students on a Sunday morning, and I have shared my faith with a good friend of mine from high school. In all these conversations, I quickly came to realize how reliant upon the Lord I am. And honestly, this really encourages me. It affirms my belief that I am where the Lord wants me, it strengthens my faith and I rely more and more on the Lord, and it allows me to grow in my pursuit of holiness as I seek to be more like my Savior.
While I walk through this season, I resonate deeply with the first two verses of Psalm 42. I had been talking with a friend of mine, and he randomly mentioned these two verses. Once I read them, I realized this explained perfectly my spiritual life right now. What beautiful verses these are:
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Man, I can resonate with the panting deer in search of good and cold flowing streams of water. Whatever the reason in my life, business or normal cozy life, I constantly find my soul longing for God. This metaphor of the panting for flowing water shows us his desperate need of water. He must have his thirst quenched, and he’s going to need a lot of water to do it. I’d imagine this deer is at the end of himself and needs help soon. This is me; this is all of us anytime and all of the time with our Father. The end of this verse says this is how our soul reacts as we are away from Him. We know and feel in our soul that we desperately need the Father, we need to be reconnected with Him. We need to live with Him.
Verse two continues to explain our thirst for God, but I really love how the psalm explains we thirst for the Living God. We do not worship a God who sleeps. One who we must perform rituals, dances, or good deeds to wake up or gather the attention of. No, we live and serve a God who is completely awake, completely aware, and completely in control of our lives. We serve a living God who actively helps us, strengthens us, encourages us, guides us and loves us. Our God is alive and restores us. And he restored us permanently when He sent His Son, our Lord, to this earth to minister to us, care for us, heal us, then die for us. And He proved to be our Living God as well when he conquered death and paved the way for us to conquer death. He is alive and He offers His hand to us. How could we not come to Him as a deer panting for flowing water?
So, as I close my thoughts on this season in my life, I wanted to share one snippet and point in the conversation I had with a friend of mine from high school. This friend isn’t a believer but recently has really been moved by the Bible. They believe there is good reason to logically believe in a Creator and already sees how belief in God and in the Bible leads to a better life than not. While they explained these things to me, my spirit began to stir as I felt the Spirit move in me. I had the uncontrollable urge to explain to them that it is only the Lord in me that produces good in my life. I explained that I desperately needed the Lord and His help in all times in my life. And that if my life was to serve any purpose, it would be to point to Jesus and His glory. Jesus, hands down, is the best part of my life. How could I not want the best part of my life to become the best part of someone else’s life?
And with that being said, I’m happy to be the deer in Psalm 42. It’s not easy, but I do not have to search far for flowing streams of cold water. I have a Provider and Sustainer for the rest of my life. And if you are in Christ, you have the same provisions as I do. Praise God for that.
His Glory Alone
