"My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness."
The popular children's prayer says, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray my soul the Lord to take..." I thought of this as I read this verse today. Our physical body houses both soul and spirit. Our soul, many theologians say, houses our spirit. Our soul is the place that our being exists and is dirtied by sin. Our soul is the place that needs cleansing by the blood of Jesus. Our spirit is the part of us that can directly communicate with God. If our soul is clogged with sin and sinful desires, our spirit is cut off from God. This is why Paul says the our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; He has to move into our soul to create a true connection with God. Our soul must become a place of holiness and of righteousness.
I do not have even close to enough room to fully describe or discuss this. I tell you all this, however, because it helps us understand how our soul can yearn for God throughout the night. Isaiah, seeking God's comfort in the midst of all the turmoil that surrounded Israel, found rest at night through the yearning of his soul for the almighty and for the all glorious God. In the morning and throughout the day, Isaiah's spirit was awake and connected to God. He could feel the closeness of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This longing by his spirit drew Isaiah to seek God. I think many times we miss this part of our lives. Great revivals used to take place because people used to go out into the woods behind their homes and pray and long for God's presence. I spoke with an older gentleman years ago who told me about his youth and going out to pray. Many people could be heard crying out for God. I believe it was Charles Finney who talked about similar instances of people out in the woods praying for God's presence. I am not calling us to pray in the woods, but I do believe God is calling us to find a quiet place and to long and to yearn for Him.
When Christians get tired enough of trying to carry everything on their own, I pray we will get a similar attitude for the presence of God. Only in this attitude of longing and of yearning will God bring His justice; a justice that will bring people into repentance and restore a spirit of peace and righteousness - His righteousness.
"But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them." Isaiah 26:7 (NLT)If you are looking for a smooth path, then you will first have to check your attitude towards God. Do you long for Him enough to seek Him with your entire life? Or are you satisfied with the status quo or the emptiness you feel? As for me and my house, I pray to serve the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment