Musing on Psalm 40
"I wanna run to the one thing I know is something true..
I wanna be with You." ~Avalon
Let's all face something today. Life fails us. People fail us. Things fail us. All of us, no matter our age or cultural background or gender or family history or religious affiliation, have been disappointed. We could spend our whole lives searching for that one person who will never let us down, that one success that will satisfy us for a lifetime...and wind up lost and empty. The words to Avalon's song, "I Wanna Be With You," touched me this morning as I considered that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only One I have found to be true and satisfying at every difficult time in my life. He is the One I can run to, the One I can trust to protect me and love me when it seems no one else will. Today I choose to be with Him, to walk with Him through the troubling and even disastrous moments of my day...knowing He will never leave me or forsake me.
I find myself often looking to my best friends or my boyfriend or my family members for endurance when things get difficult. I look to people to give me the emotional security I crave. In many ways, that can be healthy and shows how very blessed I am to have such a network of people I can trust. But, in another sense, it proves that I tend to be dependent on fallible people instead of on my infallible Savior. When I find areas of my life unraveling, relationships falling apart, difficult decisions looming ahead, where do I turn? To whom do I turn? These are questions we must all ask ourselves. When push comes to shove, do we just say we trust Jesus and then doubt His power? Or do we truly believe that He is at work accomplishing more than we could imagine?
I will be the first to admit that my first response in adversity or confusion is not to open my Bible with a calm assurance that the Spirit is within me for strength and guidance. Yes, I may fall on my knees in a plea that God will show me what He's doing. But I know so little about relying solely and firmly on God's faithfulness, though I have seen it time and time again. I pray that God will continue to make me aware of His presence with me every moment..to keep me from sin, from fear, from doubt. I want to know how it feels to experience the fullness of His presence in a way that transforms me.
I Wanna Be With You
By Avalon
I wanna tell You things I've never told
And take You into the center of my soul
I wanna run through
The fields of your imagination
Under the blue skies, You're the golden sun
The light in my eyes, I know You are the One
See where my heart lies
As you guide me through the shades of gray
Along the way
I will hang on every single word You say
And never live to see my dying day
I'd walk the aisle a million miles
To see You smile
I wanna know how it feels to believe in something
Ride on the heels of a good thing coming
Run to the one thing I know is something true
I wanna be with You
Want You to show me the wonder of the word
Want You to hear me like no one's ever heard
You have and hold me
Leading me out of the darkest night
Into the light
And never has it ever been so right
And from this moment on You are the sight
I can't erase
I close my eyes, I see Your face
Every day, every night
For the rest of my life
I wanna be where You are
'Cause You're never very far away
I always wanna be with You
I wanna know how it feels to believe in something
Ride on the heels of a good thing coming
Run to the one thing I know is something true
I wanna live my life like I hold the meaning
Deep inside my soul I hear the music screaming
Eyes wide open I'm awake and dreaming, too
I wanna be with You.
Psalm 40 reminds us of the Lord's power to sustain His people. If we turn to Him, He will come close to us. If we make the longing of our heart to be with the Lord as much as we can, worshipping and trusting Him, how could that not change us into people who reflect Him more to a hurting world? I pray that all of my sisters and brothers will be encouraged by the presence of the Savior today, this week, and throughout this new year.
"How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood...
You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me." Psalm 40:4, 11
