Moment With Betty

What a better time to long for God than this period when we are preparing to enter the season of lent. God wants us to long for Him always but for some of us the period of lent stimulates us to long for God. God wants us to long for Him all the time because it is in that longing that we are fulfilled and overwhelmed by God and experience the reflection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. We are never more fulfilled than when our longing for God is met by His presence in our lives. In Psalm 63:1, David cried out, in a Judean wilderness “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” David knew the importance of God in his life and so he cried out in the wilderness for God’s help. God is happy when we seek and long for Him in times of need and also in our time of joy. He wants us to long for Him because He knows that we will be fulfilled and overwhelmed by Him and by His son Jesus Christ. Just as we plan and strategize to achieve our goals, longing for God provides us with adequate directions and necessary help towards the resolution of our problems and difficulties in life and most importantly, we long for God because of His goodness. When we long for God in everything we do, we are sure to find happiness.

We are all familiar with the case of St. Augustine who we were told lived a reckless life but after a long period of time, he sought and found God with the help of his mother, St. Monica, who prayed unceasingly for his son St. Augustine to repent from his bad lifestyle and find God. Her prayers were heard as St. Augustine later came to his senses and realized that he could not find peace nor happiness from the type of life he was living. So, he had a change of heart and started longing for God and when he found God he said” My soul is restless until it rests in you, Lord.” Some of us may have gone through a similar route or lane that St. Augustine went through before we realized our mistakes and retracted our steps. Some also may still be immersed in this kind of reckless lifestyle either in the workplace, marriage, family and what have you. The good thing is that God is always waiting for us to return to Him. We may have searched for peace and peace may seem to have eluded us. We may have experienced some disappointments in one way or the other and the pain of this disappointment and betrayal may have thrown us off balance and we begin to ask if God still exists. Yes, we may have lost direction and focus in life and become uncertain about our future. Do not worry, trust me, all we need to do is to turn to God and long for Him. Believe me, as soon as we start to long and thirst for God, seek after His teachings, we will be in His presence and start adopting a positive posture in our life.Thereafter we will start to get our bearings and experience happiness and contentment in what we do.

Being far away from God is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone. Remember the prayer of the man in exile who cried out to God in Psalm 42:1- 2. He said, “As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you Lord, O God. l thirst for you, the living God, when can l go and worship you in your presence?” and Psalm 42 :5 says, ” why ‘am l so sad? Why ‘am l so troubled? I will put my hope in God and once again l will praise my savior, my God”. Sometimes, when we hear that one is longing for God, we think that one has to travel far away to seek or find Him. No, what it means is spending time with God personally, going to the sanctuary or church or in the corner of your bedroom and finding God through prayer, scripture reading, or through worship. Spending time with Him every day will help to further your relationship with God. When you pray, tell Him how you are always longing to find Him, how you are empty without Him and thank Him for all His goodness to you. Let Him know that you are nothing without Him. Appreciate Him always, in bad times and in good times. Psalm 63: 1-2 says “O God, you are my God and l long for you. My whole being desire you like a dry worn – out and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. Let me see you in the sanctuary. let me see how mighty and glorious you are.” Desire God, let go your problems and let Him take control of your life. Go closer to God because that is what He desires of us. Spend some quality time with God, remember that we are His sons and daughters and He created us in His image and likeness. Thank Him for creating you and for calling you His friend. God wants us to draw near to Him and if we do, He will also draw near to us.

So, long for God, draw closer to Him, pray always. Start your day with gratitude, songs of praises, read the scriptures, meditate on God’s words, listen to gospel music and above all, intercede for others who may be too weak to pray but are also longing for God. May God bless us as we do so. Amen.