2017… what a
year. I feel like as the year winds down
and I look back, I see a lot of me chasing rabbits or worse my own tail. No there was no single giant catastrophic
moment, but rather several small moments that I look at and I’m frustrated by. Moments where I wish I would have pressed into
Jesus more deeply. Moments where I wish I would have sought the counsel of
wise, Godly people. Moments where I wish I would have taken a step back and
seen the big picture. Moments where I wish I would have loved better. All these moments point to the same problem
for me… distraction.
I was so
distracted in 2017. Some of my pet
distractions:
- Family
- Health
- Career
- Others Expectations
- Friendships
- Being a control freak
- Pet sins
Just saying
these out loud hurt my heart. They aren’t all bad things, don’t get me wrong,
some of them are, but some of them are good things, that because I am a broken
person I have elevated to a place that makes them bad. These pet distractions,
all have my focus slightly shifted, and a slight shift in ones focus can be devastating.
But what
have I been distracted from? What have I lost focus of? The short answer,
Jesus. The long answer, what I have been called to as a believer. Don’t get me wrong, my relationship with
Jesus is stronger than it has ever been.
I think that is why I can look at back at things and think… that should
have been different. Or I can look at
these pet distractions and call them what they really are, idols. They make
horrible gods and only lead to pain and destruction. I have the scars to prove it.
So, as I
have been thinking back on 2017 and thinking forward to 2018. One idea keeps coming to mind… really one
word. Yearn. I want to yearn for God with every fiber of
my being. I want to cry out with the
psalmist:
“I stretch out my hands to You; my soul longs for You as a parched
land.” Psalm 143:6
“Whom
have in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”
Psalm 73:25
I want to
sing the lyrics to a familiar Shane and Shane song at the top of my lungs and
have them be the cry of my heart:
Lord, I want to yearn for You
I want to
burn with passion
Over You,
and only You.
I want my
focus to be on the Lord so that I yearn for the things He has for me. I want my distractions to be laid at His feet
and left there. I want to rejoice and weep with Him. I want to yearn for Him
and Him alone, knowing that He is faithful to provide just what I need when I
need it.
I know this
sounds a lot like a new year’s resolution, but it is so much bigger than
that. It is a prayer. I want to Yearn for God and nothing else. So I want rest in the last verses of Habakkuk:
“Though the fig tree
should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the
vines, the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no
food,
the flock be cut off
from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in
the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my
strength;
he makes my feet like
the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.”
Habakkuk 3:17-19
Thanks for reading, enjoy the end of 2017 and may you Yearn for the
Lord in 2018.
Also, single
girls if you are reading this… Your Prince has already come, his name is
Jesus. No man that walks into your life
will complete you. Love Jesus. Follow Jesus. Be obedient to what He has called
you to. The rest will take care of
itself. (sorry, I couldn’t help myself)
