The devotion for today may seem like a 'been there, done that' expression, but we are encouraged to seek the face of the Lord for all our longings. Two things;
We are to seek His 'face', not His hands, not His hair, not even His strong arms... His face.
We are to seek Him for our 'longings', not flippant desires, not shallow burdens (money, weather, even traffic)... our longings. In fact, Psalm 42: 1 & 2 read, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
It is these longings that should get our attention, for they are much more than casual desires or the day-to-day toils we face. These longings are sometimes hard to describe and even identify in our lives. They are critical parts of our character, be it; giving, caring, even something less obvious as prayer or nurturing. They are yearnings of our heart and soul, and are God's little 'divine tugs' on our hearts... His spiritual link within us to keep us close to Him and aware of His presence.
So, back to seeking His face. He has planted these longings (traits, burdens, yearnings) and wants to fellowship with us and nurture them through their fulfillment... to see 'the longings of our heart' satisfied and put into action (say, rearing children, or helping the homeless) - in essence, He is guiding us toward and through our calling!
We can accomplish this by remaining focused on Him (seeking His face), but also by not being afraid to be different from others around us. His will is FOR us (you) exclusively and varies for each of us. So, work to 'do as unto the Lord' and not 'as unto man' and He will develop and hone our gifts, our skills and our passion... and we will soon be seeing how He IS providing a means to give us the longings of our heart! And, the core benefit to those around us is summed up in Philippians 2:15, with; "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."
Comments