Gazing At God.

I want you to think about the last time you remember being most hungry. You probably felt physically weak. You had those pains of hunger strike your stomach. The only thing on your mind is satisfying that hunger.

For me this was just last week. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, or lunch, so when dinner rolled around I was “hangry” as they say. The good news was, Tami was making Trader Joe’s orange chicken, which is so good, I’m pretty sure God himself makes it. The problem was I ate like three helpings I was so hungry and then felt like I may never function again. 

Regardless, that longing we describe as hunger, or thirst, isn’t an experience that is isolated to our physical bodies. Our souls have longings too. In Psalm 63:1-2 David writes from the wilderness of Judah, no doubt experiencing physical hunger and thirst, but uses that physical experience to describe a deeper spiritual one. Listen to what he writes…

“God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. SO I gave on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.” 

Couple things of note here:

First, desert seasons of life have a way of revealing our deepest desires.

Our souls deepest longing is for the satisfying presence of God. That’s true whether we realize like David does here, or not. The counter-intuitive gift of situations like the one we’re in right now is that is helps us see just how much we dampen that deepest desire with other things. A desert season like we’re in now can be a painful experience of learning that intimacy with God is our souls deepest desire. 

Second, learning to live life gazing at God is the means of satisfying our souls deepest desire.

David allowed his desert season of longing to drive him to gaze on God’s strength and glory, two things we need right now. 

Most of us feel weak right now. We have no control over what’s happening around us. We feel isolated and alone. We’re anxious and scared. What better place to gaze when we feel week than on the infinite strength of God. the Bible portrays an all powerful God. Furthermore, God promises that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 

David also gazed on God’s glory. His glory is His manifest presence. One way we do this is practicing the discipline of seeing God at work around us. 

So here’s the things, friends. The shear fact that you and I have made it through the last couple weeks is proof of God’s power at work within us. You may feel like it wasn’t pretty, that you marked more by fear than faith, more worry than worship, more cowardice that courage - but you survived. God was strong for you. God is working in you and around you. 

The great news of these two verses is that we don’t need all our comforts and security back to experience the soul-satisfying reality of God’s presence with us. All we have to do is give intentional time each day to gaze at God. It won’t always feel like a divine moment. You won’t always see God split the heavens and feel Him rain down comfort and peace. But the more faithfully we show up and gaze on God, the more frequently we’ll experience the satisfying presence of God with us.

Let’s pray…

Father, behind every longing is our desire for you. Allow this desert season to teach us that. Help us gaze on your strength and glory today. Many of us are really struggling right now. Help us bring that struggle to you. In Jesus name, amen.