Soul Cravings

Years ago I owned a childcare facility. In my years there I encountered a lot of pregnant women. One of the interesting aspects of pregnancy to me was their cravings. Some craved ice, while others ice cream. Some wanted pickles, others craved peanut butter and others wanted them together. While doctors don’t know exactly what’s behind all the cravings, they’ve observed that in some cases it’s due to lack of vitamins. They also have noticed that the cravings are stronger in people who are not well nourished. Similarly, women who don’t have a balanced diet typically crave junk food. In any case, the body knows what it needs to care for and nourish the baby inside. It will do whatever it takes to get the mom to consume those nutrients.

In the Old Testament, the main way to experience God’s presence was in the Tabernacle or the Temple once it was built. People had to travel to it. That’s why David hated being on the run and away from God’s presence. He longed for the courts of the Lord and would rather have been a door keep in the house of God. On one occasion, he fled from Saul to the Negev and penned Psalm 63. While hiding out in the desert, he began to crave God’s presence. As he looked at his surroundings, he began to compare what his spirit was going through to what the land was experiencing. He wanted to be in God’s presence as much as the land in the desert wanted water.

Verse 1 says, “O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water” (AMP). Can you sense how strong his craving for God’s presence was? If you listen to your soul, it’s crying out for that very thing. We’re all longing to be with our creator. The good news is that we no longer have to travel to Jerusalem to experience it. The problem is that when we experience this craving, we don’t always recognize it for what it is and we try to satisfy it with other things. No matter what we do though, we can’t satisfy this craving until we enter God’s presence. When is the last time you simply sat still in God’s presence without distractions? How long has it been since you satisfied your soul’s longing? Take time today to give your soul what it really craves. It is your greatest need, yet often goes unfulfilled. Don’t deprive it any longer.

Photo by NEOM on Unsplash