Have you ever missed someone so much that it hurts? A few weeks ago Jazmin and the girls went to visit the family in Costa Rica. And I haven’t stopped missing them from the moment I left the airport the day they traveled. Many times I’ve had the opportunity to travel to attend conferences, retreats and other activities for several days away from home. And although I missed my family at that time, being involved in the activity my mind was distracted and the absence looked less. Many times my wife told me how much they missed me at home. For the absence was more noticeable in the daily routine. This time was my turn to experience for the first time to stay at home, and not to be the one who is missed but to be the one who misses. And I really appreciate what my wife and daughters have felt when I am away from home. I really want them to come back and be together again. I feel sadness and I look forward for them to return. Well, I really miss them.
This makes me think about how our relationship with God is. When was the last time I craved being in the presence of God and was anxious to be back worshiping Him, being this anguished, so much that hurt? Have you asked yourself this question too? If you haven’t done so, could you think about it for a moment?
Psalm 42 says: “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?”
We can really notice the anguish of the writer of this psalm, longing to be in the presence of God and worship him. He compares it to the anguish felt by a thirsty deer tormented by the heat of the dry lands of that region and desperately looking for a stream of water in which to quench their thirst. There is no doubt that for the writer, the presence of God is a necessity that requires constant attention. There is no doubt that for the writer, God’s presence is a necessity that requires constant attention. A thirst that only the presence and joy of the Lord can quench. And I wonder again, are we feeling a desperate thirst for God?
Perhaps we are the one who is far from home attending matters that entertain us, living in a hurry, overwhelmed by the daily routine, so distracted by the things of this world and perhaps we are not being considered with the one who awaits us because of this. We forget that God waits for us with open arms every time we want to go to Him. Also longing to meet with us again. And yes, we come to worship with joy and we meet God but the worship ends and we return to daily life, we leave home again to attend to the affairs of this life. And maybe we do miss a little but not with the passion with which the psalmist urges us to really long to be in his presence. David in Psalm 63 also declares: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” Because for these men of God, being in his presence was a delight and a relief to his soul. All their lives, all their efforts and all their focus revolved around being always in the presence of God.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. John 6:27
