2 Kings 17-18
John 3:19-36
“All my longings lie open before You, LORD: my sighing is not hidden from You.” Psalm 38:9
What do we long for? God intentionally placed longings in the core of every human heart that cannot be ignored in order to drive us to the only thing that can satisfy—Himself. As creatures formed in His image, we are hard-wired to need, to want and to find our satisfaction in Him and Him alone. How are we doing with our longings? Are we allowing them to woo us into God’s presence or are we continually blaming others—our parents, our family, our pastors, our leaders, our friends, our communities—that they did not do enough, understand enough, care enough or give enough?
A man who had been in the Teen Challenge program (a rehabilitation program for people struggling with drug or alcohol addiction) for eleven months, shared with a church leader, “I am free.” When asked what was the turning point for him, the man answered, “The turning point was when I stopped blaming my mom. I spent my whole life saying, ‘I am depressed because of her. I am a drug addict because of her.’ Yes, what she did caused me a lot of hurt, but I was angry. This anger that I had was my own anger. My life changed when I repented of blaming my mom. I took responsibility for the decisions that I made and God set me free. Then, I set my mom free, and I forgave her.”
Often, our life stories are mixed up tales of beauty and brokenness. Without a doubt, we have been wounded along the way. We first encounter love through those who, despite how much they love us, are broken and end up wounding us because of their own limitations. Even though our parents may be loving, they reflect an imperfect version of love, and because of this, we become wounded by them, not because they wanted to, but because they are broken people. This is the result of the fallen nature of humanity that our parents inherited and we inherited as well. We were created to love; yet, we cannot love unconditionally. God’s perfect love is imperfectly reflected in our brokenness and leaves us longing for more and better. The only satisfaction of our deepest needs, our aspirations, our thirsts and longings of our hearts are found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What are our longings? What are our deepest desires? God placed these desires in our hearts to lead us to Him because only He can satisfy our longings. May we allow God to be the One who satisfies the longings that He created in us.
Dear God, in You alone do I find true satisfaction for my longings. Thank You for giving me these desires to draw me back to You.
John 3:19-36
“All my longings lie open before You, LORD: my sighing is not hidden from You.” Psalm 38:9
What do we long for? God intentionally placed longings in the core of every human heart that cannot be ignored in order to drive us to the only thing that can satisfy—Himself. As creatures formed in His image, we are hard-wired to need, to want and to find our satisfaction in Him and Him alone. How are we doing with our longings? Are we allowing them to woo us into God’s presence or are we continually blaming others—our parents, our family, our pastors, our leaders, our friends, our communities—that they did not do enough, understand enough, care enough or give enough?
A man who had been in the Teen Challenge program (a rehabilitation program for people struggling with drug or alcohol addiction) for eleven months, shared with a church leader, “I am free.” When asked what was the turning point for him, the man answered, “The turning point was when I stopped blaming my mom. I spent my whole life saying, ‘I am depressed because of her. I am a drug addict because of her.’ Yes, what she did caused me a lot of hurt, but I was angry. This anger that I had was my own anger. My life changed when I repented of blaming my mom. I took responsibility for the decisions that I made and God set me free. Then, I set my mom free, and I forgave her.”
Often, our life stories are mixed up tales of beauty and brokenness. Without a doubt, we have been wounded along the way. We first encounter love through those who, despite how much they love us, are broken and end up wounding us because of their own limitations. Even though our parents may be loving, they reflect an imperfect version of love, and because of this, we become wounded by them, not because they wanted to, but because they are broken people. This is the result of the fallen nature of humanity that our parents inherited and we inherited as well. We were created to love; yet, we cannot love unconditionally. God’s perfect love is imperfectly reflected in our brokenness and leaves us longing for more and better. The only satisfaction of our deepest needs, our aspirations, our thirsts and longings of our hearts are found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What are our longings? What are our deepest desires? God placed these desires in our hearts to lead us to Him because only He can satisfy our longings. May we allow God to be the One who satisfies the longings that He created in us.
Dear God, in You alone do I find true satisfaction for my longings. Thank You for giving me these desires to draw me back to You.
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