Longings in the Midst of Here-ness.

I heard my cell phone ringing.
It sounded close so I ambled in the direction of the sound
But the sound moved, so I turned around, towards the kitchen
And again, the same thing, so I turned again, this time more hastily
And repeat . . .
Every time I thought I'd located the direction, I hadn't.
Eventually I found myself darting around the house in all directions like a demented being

As you've probably already worked out, my phone was in my back pocket

I find myself living with longing.
(Yes, there's a connection. Stay with me.)

Jesus said if we drank of the water He gives, we would never thirst again. *
I know what He means.
I thirsted for God from a young age and searched desperately for Him for many years.
When I "drank from the water" Jesus offers, the longing for God was fully satisfied.
I never thirsted again in that way.

But although finding Christ has satisfied that longing, it has evoked a powerful new one
Because knowing Him at all, is to long to know Him more.

Think David, of the Psalms fame
How well he knew and loved his God
But look what he says:
"My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water" *
He had, but he still longed . . .

Think Paul, the apostle who wrote most of the New Testament
And surely knew the risen Christ
Look what he says:
". . . that I might know Him . . . " *
You can almost hear, "Oh! if only I could know Him more!"
Such a cry of the heart!
He had, but he still longed . . .

I can relate.
I "have" Jesus -
Christ indwells me as He does all who trust in Him. *
I too have, but I still long . . .

Here is the conundrum
I have what (Whom) I'm seeking
Yet I often feel I am still searching
Not for another -
But searching, seeking, yearning . . . for the One I already have

As with my phone -
All I had to do was respond to the call.
Yet there I was, running around like a crazy, looking for what I already had.

So, is it more a question of cultivating a growing awareness of His "here-ness"?
Tuning into the knowledge of His immediacy?
The more easily to answer the call?
To hear His voice?


*John 4:14
*Psalm 63:1
*Philippians 3:10
*Colossians 1:27