Longing

Longing is an emotion that most of us are pretty uncomfortable with. We don’t like the feeling that it creates in us. This uneasiness that there is something out there that my heart deeply wants, and I don’t have it. We deal with this in many different ways. Most often, when we do experience a deep longing in our heart, we try to satisfy it as fast as we can or at least distract ourselves from it. But most of the time, in our immediacy to put the longing to rest, we settle for things that only curb it and do not leave us deeply satisfied. Others of us have tried that enough, and now we just seek not to long for anything. We settle into lives that fall well short of our desires and mask our sorrows with the outward appearance of contentment. “I should be grateful for what I have,” we tell ourselves as we put our desire for joy to rest. But what do we do when we can’t curb the craving when we can’t find a distraction that can block out the urgency of our need? What do we do when our sorrow won’t be hidden behind a veil of contentment. This is where we find King David in Psalm 63. With a longing that must be satisfied and a clarity that only the wilderness can provide, calling out to a God that He believes not only has the ability but the desire to give him the joy he so desperately seeks.