September 15: Tuesday Refocus

‘O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You;

my soul thirst for You;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.’ Psalm 63:1

Eternity is set in the heart of every person, is it any wonder we have desires that are satisfied only by the Eternal One (Ecc 3:11)?  The longings of our hearts and desires of our souls send us searching for One who will be found (Jer 29:13).

‘So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary,

Beholding Your power and glory.

Because Your steadfast love is better than life,

My lips will praise You.’  Psalm 63:2-3

All eyes will one day see Him, and the sight of Him will either produce worship or wailing (Rev 1:7).  All revelation leads to response, so even a glimpse now finds a confession of worship: ‘…Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You’

‘So I will bless You as long as I live;

In Your name I will lift up my hands.’ Psalm 63:4

Hands-raised is a sign of surrender.  A giving over of myself to the One who satisfies, the One who has revealed Himself, the One whose love is better than life.

Lord, forgive our apathy and half-hearted pursuit of You.  The One who loves us to the uttermost.  Reveal our desires, satisfy our longings, lift our gaze and our hands.  In Christ’s name, amen.

Looking,

AB

September 8: Tuesday Refocus

‘O Truth, how the deepest marrow of my mind aches for You!’ - Augustine

I am not always aware of my desires and expectations until they go unmet.  Whether your dreams or plans, hopes, or careers have been put on pause or completely collapsed, we have all been marked by unmet desires, expectations, and longings in 2020.

We could perceive COVID-19 as an interruption, or an invitation to allow God to purify and clarify our desires.  Some of our desires are God-given – to provide for our families, to use the gifts He has given, to steward-well what He has entrusted.  And some of our desires have been co-opted by sin, self, and culture.  No desire is hidden from Him:  ‘O Lord, all my longing is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You.’ – Psalm 38:9

And through His Word our desires are weighed: ‘For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ – Hebrews 4:12

Welcome the interruption that allows the Spirit to remind our hearts: ‘You open Your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.’ - Psalm 145:16

Lord, we look to You, give us a desire for righteousness greater than we desire the stability of career, and fulfilled earthly expectations.  All our desires are only a shadow of what our souls truly long for – You alone.  Thank You, that in You we are satisfied.  In Christ's name, amen.

Open,

AB

July 30: Tuesday Refocus

‘Let us desire nothing else,

let us want nothing else,

let nothing else please us and cause us delight except our Creator, Redeemer, and Savior,

the only true God,

Who is the fullness of good,

All good, every good, the true and supreme good,

Who alone is good,

Merciful, gentle, delightful, and sweet,

Who alone is holy,

Just, true, holy, and upright,

Who alone is kind, innocent, clean,

From whom, through whom, and in whom

Is all pardon, all grace, all glory

Of all penitents and just ones,

Of all the blessed rejoicing together in heaven.’ – St Francis of Assisi

There is no end to things we desire.  Some desires are God-given.  All desire has been warped by sin:

‘What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?  Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder.  You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.  You do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spent it on your passions.’ - James 4:1-3

In our sin-distorted desire we love to use Psalm 37:4 as a means to our selfish end: ‘Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.’

But it has never been money, sex or power that we truly desire – but God Himself.  The One who is good and does good (Ps 119:68).  The One who opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing (Ps 145:16).  He is our greatest desire, and this desire is never left unfulfilled because He gives us Himself (1 Tim 2:6).

Lord Jesus, let us desire nothing else, want nothing else, let nothing else please us, and cause us delight except You.  In your name, amen.

Desiring Him,

AB