My Soul Longs for You, O God

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“As a deer longs for flowing streams,
    so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
    the face of God?
My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me continually,
    ‘Where is your God?’”

Psalm forty-two, only a portion of which is quoted here, speaks of the deep longing that each of us has for God. We may label that longing in different ways but we do all experience it. It is like a thirst that can only be satisfied by God. Saint Augustine of Hippo once said that, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” We know from Augustine’s life how much he searched for God, looking for Him in so many unlikely places, and in so many unlikely things. And, all too often, he did not even know that it was God he really longed for. His conversion finally came when he became satisfied in his heart that it was God alone who would be able to satisfy his restless and yearning heart. Do you long for peace in your own life? Is your heart restless and yearning for something more? Do you feel that your life is missing something? That there has to be something more to life than what you’ve experienced thus far? Could it be that it is really God that you long for?

The Samaritan woman that Jesus met at the well, in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel, was a lot like Saint Augustine.  She had made a lot of mistakes in life, and trying to find happiness in all the wrong ways. Finally, when Jesus looked into her eyes, she knew what true love and true life could be found only in him. This is the same Living Water that is available to each one of us for the asking, that is, indeed a fountain within our hearts.  Jesus lives deep in your heart, desiring to give you his most profound friendship, his most tender love. If Jesus stood before you, looking into your eyes, what is it that you would ask of him? Know that he is truly with you, looking at you as he looked at the Samaritan woman. He is looking at you with love beyond measure. Take a moment to offer a prayer of gratitude in the silence of your own heart for this wonderful gift of his grace.

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