On Longing

Psalm 38:9 says, "All my longings lie open before You, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from You." You know, sometimes it's just nice knowing that He knows. And He does. He created us. He knows everything about us, even things we don't yet know about ourselves.

I have a pretty specific longing right now, but I'm finding, as I explore it, that there are some underlying longings that go with it. It's these underlying longings, not the major one that has me thinking about who I am and what my motivations in life are. But the thing is, God already knows the answers to those questions. He knows how I would handle the various scenarios I'm imagining. He knows the true motivations behind the things I'm asking Him for, even if I don't. And He knows my longings.

We all have basic needs - to be fed, to be sheltered, to be clothed, to be loved. But outside of those are where our longings fall - to be successful, to be comfortable, to be happy, to be useful. And I don't think any of these longings are bad in and of themselves. I don't think these are things God doesn't want us to ask for and to pursue. We just need to be careful that they don't overshadow the pursuit of Him. The Bible tells us that God blesses those who love Him (check out Deuteronomy 6), but can we really expect to receive God's blessings if we're more interested in our own success and happiness than we are in developing our relationship with Him? As with all good things in life, moderation is key.

But let's not fall too far on the other side of the fence either. It really is ok to ask for good things to happen, but the temptation to fall into martyrdom is sometimes very strong. We don't want to appear greedy, so we don't ask for things. We don't want to seem self-centered, so we don't share our desires with God - and definitely not with other Christians. Romans 12:15 says that we're to "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn". Sometimes I think we do a little too much of the latter and not enough of the former. But we're so much more inclined to share our struggles with each other than we are our hopes so that more people know when something bad happens to us than when something good happens. When we do that, do you realize that we're stealing an opportunity away from someone else to obey God's Word, not to mention the opportunity to share in someone else's happiness?

The point is, it really is ok to have longings and to want good things to happen. It's a good thing to lay these out before God - not for His benefit, but for ours. In laying them out, He may show us motivations, or even desires that need to change. Or, He may give us the peace we need to know that what we're asking for is in alignment with His will. And it really is good and allowable to lay them out to our Christian friends so that they have the opportunity to pray with us and then, with God's blessing, to rejoice with us. Life in Christ was not meant to be a life of just getting by with the basics. He came to give us a full life, and it is a privilege to share our hopes and dreams with our Father and with our brothers and sisters in the faith.