Panting Yet?

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalm 42:1

If you read my last post, you know God and I are working on my definition of priorities.

Of course, first I had to admit who’s boss: God is.

I had to decide whose wisdom to follow, the expert’s or His. I tried theirs first and bombed so, again, He’s the answer.

Are you getting the hint that I’m stubborn?

God used several verses to work in my heart. The first was Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants for streams of water

A panting deer is a vivid image. He’s desperate for water because, without it, he dies. It’s hard for most of us to relate to that kind of overwhelming, urgent need.

It’s no mistake that Jesus relates thirst to our need for Him and His salvation.

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

Doctors say that, by the time we feel thirst, we’re already dangerously dehydrated. But we usually don’t realize it.

I was thirsty to serve God, to write for Him, to bless others through my writing. But I wasn't thirsty for God. I wasn't desperate for Him. I focused on the doing not on the being.

The writer of this Psalm desperately needed God. Just as the deer needed water to survive, he needed God to survive.

Praise God – He didn't stand by and watch me flounder. He stripped away the doing and drew me to Himself.

Alone with Him, I realized how much I needed Him. The more of Him I experience, the more of Him I crave.

I tried to serve Him from a dry well; He fills me with a spring that feeds my soul and spills over into my life and my writing.

I trudged on in frustration; He restores my excitement and joy.

What a difference a little panting makes!

How has God drawn you close to Him?

What difference did it make in your life?

Photo 1, Photo 2