UNFULFILLED LONGINGS
When did I forget the light of the world?
The One who lights my path and guides my way
The only one who satisfies my thirst
Living Water and Bread of Life
How could I mistake all those pigs for pearls?
Wallow in the pen and extend my stay
Indulge. Eat and drink. My needs must come first
All this selfishness leads to strife
Where was I misled into such disgrace?
To believe the lies, full of self-pity
Bit by bit, step by step, I became lost
Down the wide path into the abyss
Why would I embrace the wealth of this place?
Throw my hope away for carnality
Enough is Enough! I choose to abide
In His word, attached to the vine
Who will bring me back to God's warm embrace?
Jesus is the one, my guarantee
He paid the price, now I'm at His side
Forever loved, forever His
What can I do now to win this race
To store up treasures for eternity?
I sit at his feet and receive His grace
Reflect love back and share the light.
© Tavane Nelson, June 17, 2017
I give thanks that our God that never gives up on us!
I look back and wonder when I began to trade in lies for truth.It happened over a long period of time. Subtly. That's how the devil works. Without even noticing what was happening I began to believe the lies that the pursuit of worldly pleasures would bring fulfillment and fill those empty places in my life. I should have known better after being a christian for 23 years! Yet somehow a sense of entitlement and justification had crept into my thought life.
Sadly I realized that I had even allowed the enemy of my soul to taint scripture verses, much like the devil tempted Jesus by twisting biblical truths. However, Jesus was able to see through each lie and declare truth. I was blinded to the truth in this verse:
Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4
Subconsciously, I began to believe that all the desires of my heart should be fulfilled. I began to long for certain aspects of my life to be changed. In and of themselves, these longings were not necessarily wrong. It just wasn't the reality of my life. Longing for these changes was slowly eating away at my joy until unfulfilled longings took priority in my thoughts and turned my life into one continual disappointment. Why wasn't God giving me the desires of my heart? Why wasn't I content like the apostle Paul?
Some were deep longings of the soul pertaining to the world and loved ones. Others were more earthly. For example, I have longed for a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember. I've been envious of all those people who have their own garden. I want to pick my own food and eat it fresh on my plate. Maybe I should have been born a farmer! As an introvert, I also have an intense longing to just be alone more often than I am. I also long to be a minimalist and get rid of all of my belongings. However, this doesn't go over well with the rest of my family! If only I could get rid of everything, then I could be happy. If only I had a garden, then I would be happy. If only....then. Everyone has their own list of "if only... then". But how many of us have learned that even if the list has been attained, a whole host of new "if only...then" statements take its place. . To fill those empty places I turned to worldly addictions to escape the pain of some of those deeper unfulfilled longings. We all also have our own lists of escape to dull any pain we feel: alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, television, eating, and social media. The list can be anything that becomes out of balance in our lives, even seemingly good things. It's an unending trap that needs to be broken
Fortunately God began to work on my heart, and I saw that the way out of the trap: the true desire of my heart was to "take delight in the Lord." It was there in that verse, only I had been focusing on the second part that "He would give you the desires of your heart." The world will never fill those empty places. My delight is in being with the Lord. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are enough to fill every deep longing, every unfulfilled desire and all those empty places in our being.
Some were deep longings of the soul pertaining to the world and loved ones. Others were more earthly. For example, I have longed for a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember. I've been envious of all those people who have their own garden. I want to pick my own food and eat it fresh on my plate. Maybe I should have been born a farmer! As an introvert, I also have an intense longing to just be alone more often than I am. I also long to be a minimalist and get rid of all of my belongings. However, this doesn't go over well with the rest of my family! If only I could get rid of everything, then I could be happy. If only I had a garden, then I would be happy. If only....then. Everyone has their own list of "if only... then". But how many of us have learned that even if the list has been attained, a whole host of new "if only...then" statements take its place. . To fill those empty places I turned to worldly addictions to escape the pain of some of those deeper unfulfilled longings. We all also have our own lists of escape to dull any pain we feel: alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, television, eating, and social media. The list can be anything that becomes out of balance in our lives, even seemingly good things. It's an unending trap that needs to be broken
Fortunately God began to work on my heart, and I saw that the way out of the trap: the true desire of my heart was to "take delight in the Lord." It was there in that verse, only I had been focusing on the second part that "He would give you the desires of your heart." The world will never fill those empty places. My delight is in being with the Lord. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are enough to fill every deep longing, every unfulfilled desire and all those empty places in our being.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty
John 6:35
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13,14
If the truth be told, and I was to get that garden, I would still not be satisfied: that longed for garden would be full of weeds and pests. That longed for garden would need a lot of sweat and tears. We were created for the perfection of the Garden of Eden, and that all changed when sin entered the world. It is freeing to understand the true nature of these unfulfilled longings. Our future hope is in heaven with Jesus, and only then will those longings go away. When I begin to feel discontentment and start longing for what the world has to offer, I will fix my eyes on Jesus and long for the new Heaven and the New Earth: the time when all things will be made right.
Set your heart on things above, not on earthly things, for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:2,3.
For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.
Hebrews 13:14
Hebrews 13:14
