Monthly Archives: March 2020

Want God?

fullsizeoutput_2e3eBy Judy Villanueva

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.  (St. Augustine)

My eyes opened and I peeked out from under sleepy eyelids to see what time it was…5:00am!  I should’ve gone back to sleep but all I could think of was hot, brown, yummy coffee with cream and sugar!  I had awakened to the prospect of sipping a mug of  “wake me up and make me happy” goodness, so drifting back to sleep was pretty unlikely.  As I sat in the dark waiting for the beep that would signal “the best part of waking up,”  I became acutely aware of a lacking in my hunger for God, or at least, a weakness of fervor compared to my morning passion for a cup of Joe.  Yuck.  I don’t want that to be true, but there it is…the whole, caffeinated truth of it.

How does the soul pant for God?  We have been made for Him and even if we do not believe He exists, our souls know better! 

There is a “sacred place” within us that longs for its Maker, remembers its true home, and yearns to be with God.

It is why, I believe, it matters to us that our lives have meaning.  It accounts for the angst we experience when we are silent, or agree to sit still.  In the spaces between moving around and being busy with this or that, we can feel our soul hunger for God.  This part of us doesn’t believe for a moment that we “just happened” after a big bang, but retains the precious truth of our origins.  Sadly, it is possible to ignore our soul and after a while, we can become impervious to its longing for God.  I’m not sure there is anything more tragic than that a soul should forget that it belongs to God.

The image of a deer panting for water is a vivid picture of focused desire, not unlike my morning quest for coffee.  “Wanting” so often is driven by habits and hungers, both real and imagined, so how do we tune into our soul’s desire for God?  How do we learn to sit patiently next to Him, when everything in us wants to squirm away and fill up with temporal things?

I want to learn to follow my soul’s yearning into God’s presence and hold myself there long enough to experience His embrace.

I want to drink in the Lord more fully and not get up until my soul overflows.  I need to slow myself down, linger in prayer, ponder God’s word,  and savor the joy of belonging to God. His company is what I want to anticipate when I open my eyes in the morning and He is what I want to fill up with each day.

“Lord, help me to pay attention to the hunger pangs of my soul and learn to want You, as I open my eyes in the morning.  Call my soul to come and teach me how to enjoy Your presence more fully.  Amen.”

What about you?

Did you pant for God today?

Are you aware and paying attention to your soul’s longing for God?

How do you bring your soul to God?

You have been made for God.  He is your home and place of rest.

Worship

Sparrows

DSC_0345By Judy Villanueva

Luke 12:6-7 

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

That God does not forget one sparrow is a great consolation to my soul, for there is nothing more troubling than to feel forgotten.  Sold for less than one cent, sparrows were considered practically worthless and yet, Jesus testifies that not one is unknown to  God.  Do you ever feel forgotten?  I do at times.  To feel invisible is something that will pull the rug right out from under me.  It might happen when I don’t feel heard, considered, or remembered.  It might occur after a long period of waiting in prayer for provision or relief from a trial.  Whatever the catalyst, feeling forgotten wants to suggest that we do not matter and strikes a harsh blow to our faith and perception of God.

I think that Jesus knows that all of His children have a question embedded in the deepest part of their souls.

Do I matter?

Is my life of value and am I on anyone’s radar?  In this passage, Jesus addresses our need to hear and know how God feels about us with an emphasis that is unmistakable!  His words are a revelation of  God’s divine nature designed to help us know Him better.  Jesus tells us that God’s heart is such that He keeps track of little sparrows and even counts the number of hairs on our heads.  Yes, we matter to God!  His care for us goes far beyond knowing our names and where we live.

God’s love is intimate, personal, and particular!

When I read this morning that God does not forget even a sparrow, I felt my hope wake up!  It’s easy to feel lost in the crowd down here on planet earth–one life among millions over the centuries.  When trouble comes and stays for a long visit, it’s tiring and a little tempting to wonder if prayers have been overlooked or forgotten. This little verse helps me hear Jesus, all the way from the twenty-first century, reminding me that God has not forgotten me or my prayers!

It’s a whisper and a clap of thunder that arrives with an armful of hope for my heart today.

It refuels my faith and reshapes my wounded perception of the God who remembers me, who has utter, complete and perfect knowledge of my life — always!

“Lord, I feel refreshed today that You remember me, my hair, and my story.  Thank You for knowing me intimately, personally and particularly.  Heal  my false and wounded images of You and help me to trust in Your good heart.  Amen.”

How about you?

Do you ever feel forgotten by God?

How might you feel today, in your life right now, if you were convinced of God’s utter, complete and perfect knowledge of you?

Have you heard God say to your soul that you matter?  You do!  You matter.

God loves you and you are on His radar.

Worship

Do Not Worry

IMG_3473By Judy Villanueva

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I opened my eyes this morning to find a bunch of worries staring back at me! It was like they had been waiting for me to wake up so they could all talk to me at once. Can you relate? I hadn’t even had my coffee! They had my full attention for a couple of hours and before I knew it my tummy hurt and I felt overwhelmed with worry! As I anxiously drove to my first appointment, these words came to mind, “Be anxious for nothing…pray…be at peace” — and I began to talk with God.

What would happen to our worries IF when we prayed, we could physically see the King of Kings sitting across from us listening? How would we feel IF as we told Him all our troubles, we saw the tears well up in His eyes and His head nodding in understanding? These are the questions I asked myself as I laid out my burdens one by one and, THIS is the God I remembered as I made my requests known to Him.  Do you know what happened next?  I felt His peace begin to guard my heart!

In prayer God helps me remember “the real Him,” the Father who stoops to hear my voice, who cares about the things that trouble me — the One who is never too busy to listen, and who, by the way, is the most powerful Being in the universe!

And, even though nothing in the physical world around me immediately changed, I was able to lean back and exhale because I felt His peace surrounding me and I was reminded that the One who holds all things together, also holds me!

“Father, thank You for loving me. It means everything to me that You hear my prayers and care. I feel so lucky that I can talk to the King of Kings! Thanks for listening today and for calming my heart. Help me to trust You with tomorrow. Amen.”

What about you?

Are you worried about anything today? Are you feeling anxious?

Have you experienced God listening to you? Have you talked to Him about your troubles?

Do you need God’s peace to guard your heart today?

Take some time today and tell God your cares.

Worship