Monday Morning Encouragement -- What Our Souls Long For

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God." (Psalm 42:1 ESV)

(I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so I'm sharing a repeat of a devotional originally posted on December 4, 2023. I think it's a good reminder for us. God bless!)

For most people, celebrating Christmas includes time spent with family and friends. Meals are shared, gifts are exchanged, and once more lasting memories are made. It's a time of celebration, and for Christians it's especially meaningful as we acknowledge and honor our Savior's birth. 

And yet, for some of us -- even Christians -- this season is a lonely time. We may be separated from loved ones, either by distance or by death. This may be the first Christmas without a spouse, a child, or a parent. Or maybe we're feeling overwhelmed and anxious this year. We want to celebrate. We want to feel the "Christmas spirit", but in reality we don't. If we're honest, we just want to skip Christmas entirely. If you're feeling this way -- or have ever felt this way -- you know what I'm saying. You understand.

So what do we do when this happens to us? We could just wait it out. Eventually Christmas will come and go, and we can focus on a new year. But is this really the answer? In the very depth of our soul don't we long to feel that Christmas joy we once felt? Don't we want more?

I submit that we do, and I want to propose the answer to our malaise is found in God. What we really need is more of Him. More of Jesus. More of the Holy Spirit.  Our thirsty souls are longing for God. They're panting for Him as a thirsty deer pants for cool streams of water. And just as the deer must stop to drink from the stream, so we must stop to drink from God's word. It's what our souls long for, it's what we need to quench our feelings of despair. Our feelings of loneliness. 

Psalm 42 begins with a desperate longing for God. And it ends with that longing fulfilled. Here's what the Psalmist writes in the last verse:

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God."

The Psalmist found hope in God, and that led him to praise Him; to worship God. When our hearts overflow with worship, there's no room for despair. This is what satisfies the longing of our souls.

Today's music video As The Deer is taken from Psalm 42. It will be familiar to many of us. This particular version by Shane and Shane is a favorite of mine. I pray it will lead you to worship the Savior who loves you. May I suggest you stop, sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and let the words and music speak to your soul. God will meet you there.

I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.