The importance of being Earnest - Journal for 3/29/11

Scripture: Psalm 63:1-4
"earnestly I seek you."

Observation:
There are times when pursuing God comes easy. I've had those. It is a joy to wake early and meet the Lord. To pour the coffee and spend what seems to be a leisurely hour in the Word and prayer. The thoughts pour forth from the pages and my praise seems effortless and grand. Those are mountaintop experiences to be savored.

But they're not all like that. David writes this Psalm from the desert. I have been there too. Nothing comes easy. I wake late and am distracted by everything. As hard as I claw, the words will not release themselves from the page and I am left empty and unfulfilled. These are the days when my soul thirsts for God. I go to the water, but when I arrive it seems to a mirage rather than an oasis.

It is at these times that David wants to teach us to seek the Lord earnestly. To seek earnestly (Hebrew: sahar) is a seldom used word in the Old Testament. When it is used it is primarily used of seeking God in a time of trial. That certainly fits here. There is probably no connection but I can't help but think that sahar and Sahara are so similar. We seek the Lord in the desert.

Application:
My seeking of the Lord needs to be earnest whether I am in the desert or the rain forest. Actually, this discipline of reading and commenting through the blog is helpful. I've never been very good at journaling, but I am enjoying this. It is more of a easy experience. Check back in a few weeks and we'll see how things are going.

Prayer:
Today, Lord, I seek you. I'm not in a desert, but I'm not in a rain forest either. Teach me to follow you and to seek you regardless of how I feel and what my circumstances are like. Create in me a desire to find you and to pursue you relentlessly. Help me Lord to put aside all the things that distract me from a full-out pursuit of you. Amen.

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