Earnestly Seek

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.”
— Psalm 63:1


I so loved how Heidi led us last Friday night in worship and prayer. Her confession of being dry and worn out, I think, resonated with many. I’ve been there so often. There are no easy “fixes” to such things. In fact, sometimes there’s nothing really to fix. God is simply working in silence, intentionally using the desert season to mold us more into His image, to mature us. This means that it is good - this loneliness, this longing, this discontent. He is wooing us to search for Him. He is strengthening our faith. Maybe that’s where you are. He’ll get you through it. Be encouraged.


At times, though, we’re dry because we’ve stopped the pursuit. In the psalm quoted above, David claims to “earnestly seek” the Lord. Listen to the intensity of his words: “thirst,” “whole being longs.” Sometimes we’re dry and worn out because we are no longer earnestly seeking. So, my exhortation and urging for you today is to shake yourself off and jump back in. You are tired, not because of too much seeking, but because you’ve allowed too many other things to become priorities in life above Him.


You can know God! He wants to be with you. He wants to speak to you and to listen to you and to be fully at the center of your life. But you gotta put in some effort, friends. Yes, it’s hard in new stages of life. Jobs, spouses, kids, responsibilities all conspire to pull you away. But He is more important! He is what you need most in every season. He is still there and still opening His arms to you. He knows your circumstances, and He still makes His invitations and His demands and expects you to respond. Because it is good for you to do so. It is right.


I want to urge you to pray as a significant priority. Make time just for you and Jesus. And I want to urge you to read His Word. Priority. Significant. All of us.


We’re having 48 hours of prayer coming up August 4-6. I highly encourage you to sign up for an hour or two or more. Seriously.


I also want to urge you to invest in your spiritual family. The boiler room is far from perfect. Oh so far. But, at least for now, God has you here. (Or if you’re reading this and He has you somewhere else, jump in there). You need us in ways you don’t realize. And we need you in ways you don’t realize.


“You don’t get it Tim, remember this: I”M TIRED!” I know. I do. Something's gotta give. Something’s gotta go. But maybe your “earnest seeking” of God isn’t that thing. And honestly, this is an intensely personal pursuit. But it’s also an intensely corporate pursuit.


I’m not wanting to put a heavy burden on you. That is not the way of Jesus. I want you to find His perfect burden, which is light and easy. His burden frees you from having to do all the stuff in order to be saved, to be forgiven, to be loved. He loves you! Now. Today. He loves you if you never pray or never Bible or never spud or whatever. It’s true. His burden also calls you to lay down your entire freakin life. Every single part of it. Every moment. Every penny. Every idea. Every. Thing. And then there it is — the freedom. The lightness. The joy.


I love you and want good things for you. I’m praying for you.


As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.


Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”
— Psalm 42:1-5 ​