“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.”
Charles Hadden Spurgeon
I recently wrote about Mary of Bethany and how she was never in a hurry when she sat and listened to Jesus speak. Last week the Holy Spirit said, She couldn’t get enough of me. Mary was like a lovesick bride who lingered and delayed leaving God’s presence.
When I first met my husband at the University of Arizona, we would meet at the Student Union in the morning to have bear claws and coffee. We met at the library with the intention of studying, yet little was accomplished. Instead, we filled our study time with asking a million questions in our quest to get to know each other. No matter how much time I spent with John, it was never enough. I wanted more.
God loves it when we feel that way toward Him, when our passion for Him is never satisfied. The psalmist David described his lovesickness for God in Psalm 63:1. “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’s intense longing for God was during a time of need when his enemies threatened his life.
God allows our circumstances to get us to a point of desperation where we run to Him and fling ourselves onto His lap, for protection and provision. Bob Sorge writes, “…hardship produces desperation, which in turn produces intense intimacy.” On our first trip to the Brownsville revival, there was a woman lying on the floor, pounding her fists into the carpet and crying out to God over and over, “I have to have You!” It delights God’s heart when we’re desperate for Him, for He is a Bridegroom who enjoys taking care of His Bride’s deepest needs.
I periodically ask the Holy Spirit to help me fall more madly in love with Him. Any depth of my intimacy with God was initiated by God. He woos me to Himself, holds my heart in His hands, and entices me to want more of Him. I never want my passion for God satisfied. May I always earnestly seek Him, even when I’m not desperate.
“Let thy desire be the vision of God, thy fear the loss of Him, thy sorrow His absence, and thy joy in that which may take thee to Him; and thy life shall be in great peace.”
Teresa of Avila
Relevant Reflections:
Describe a time when your desperation for God deepened your intimacy with God.
Ask God to cause you to fall more madly in love with Him, to the point you can’t get enough of Him.