Have you ever had an insatiable craving for something?
People jokingly talk about pregnant women who crave pickles, ice cream, or some random food. After drinking water all day for several days, I will admit to craving something different, usually a Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar. Others crave chocolate or salty chips, or something else. I’ve even heard of people who tire of, say, the car they are driving and get this insatiable urge to get another.
There is a craving much more important than all of those. It’s found in the words of Blaise Pascal who is credited with saying,
“There is an ‘infinite abyss’ inside us only an infinite God can fill.”
Perhaps you have heard it put this way: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in each one of us that only God can fill.”
Or consider what Augustine once wrote:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
King David put it this way: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?” (Ps.42:1-2 NLT) He also wrote, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” (Ps.63:1 (NLT)
My greatest pursuit should be God and a deepening relationship with Him. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Mt. 5:6 CSB) I remember someone saying that. Oh yeah…Jesus. 🙂
Word to Bill: make it your passion to pursue Him. Today. Tomorrow. Many tomorrows.
Our hearts will always be restless until they find rest in God. Great words and worthy reminders to seek the Lord and crave His presence above all things.
Blessings, Bill!
I need reminders Martha! 🙂
Father, help us to shut off the noise and chaos, and to just sit at Your feet. We crave an intimate personal loving relationship with You. We are the ones who lose sight of that, not You. Quiet us Father, let us sit at the table You set for just us, to sit and spend quiet time in love and worship with You. Only then will we feel our restless hearts and longing being fulfilled with our only true need, only You Father. 1Timothy1:17
Wonderful prayer Gail. I especially appreciate two things: one that you ask for Him to help shut off the noise and two, I know you practice this.
After my first marriage that ended abruptly and with much pain… I was brought to recognize the hole that I was trying to fill with an earthly relationship, possessions, and activities. After finding myself in the home of a pastor, the father of a mutual friend, He helped me recognize that the hole that was there could only be filled by Jesus.
Now after nearly 30 years of having that hole filled, it is still good to be reminded that, people, places, and things cannot fill the void of a relationship with Jesus. It is also unfair to put the burden of that void on those we love.
Great testimony Ryan! And you are right by us expecting those we love to fill that void. Just ain’t going to happen.