When You Really Need A Word from God!

Needing a word from God?  Then, when that word is given, what do we do? Do we recognize the timeliness of the gift?  He is precious. He has a mighty voice.  His touch is tender.  God is the very essence of peace.  God repeatedly gives to us.  If we need a word from God and do not get a word from God, what can we do?  What will we do? 

We need a word from You.  I need thee every hour.  Most precious God.  No tender voice like thine can peace afford.  I need thee, oh I need thee.  Every hour I need thee.  Oh, bless me now, my Savior.  I come to Thee. 

Need a word from God?

I do…. I do!!  I really do need a word from God.  When I am acting in the calling Jesus has placed on my heart, I sometimes find myself wondering what in the world I am doing.  That is when I know, I need God every single hour of every single day.  I have to pour out my soul and/or prostrate my weary body.  I must open my ears, my heart, and my soul so that the Holy One can give me a word.

I recently experienced one of those moments…

My life had become congested.  I was involved in this and doing that.  I had little, if any, time to just sit quietly with God.  I was doing ministry and being with family.  I was acting, singing, and dancing.  I was donating my time to help children who had been removed from their homes.  I was taking care of finances for myself and others.  I was eagerly trying to support anyone in need of a listening ear.  I had been writing books and articles and creating content for a new website.  I had been worshipping God in spirit and in truth and remembering to pray without ceasing.  But I did not seem to have time to be quiet.  God had been answering my prayers.  I know Jesus listens to me.  But I had been so busy that for the first time in my life, I was weary.  I was not discouraged, angry or disheartened.  I was simply weary…

The time was nearing for a trip I was taking to Cape Town, South Africa, with my husband and my son.  And all I could think about was leaving the hustle and bustle of my everyday life behind, and the time I would have to spend sojourning with the Lord.  I did not want to spend every moment out and about.  I really wanted to rest. 

Have you ever needed to just rest, be still, and wait for God’s word?

Consider the words of Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2. 

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.   When can I go and meet with God?

First of all, you may feel like the psalmist who says:  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. I know that is how I was feeling…

We were advised not to drink the tap water while visiting Cape Town.  Upon arrival, one of the first things we did was purchase bottled still water.  At home, a gallon of bottled water would last about a week because we would add ice or sometimes just opt for tap water.  But in Cape Town, whether drinking or brushing your teeth, the one choice for water was bottled. 

It may have been odd, but the longer we were in Africa, the more water I consumed.  Each day we bought one or two 5-liter bottles.  The more we drank, the more I wanted.  I was craving water more than soft drinks.  Imagine wanting more and more water.

I likened this craving for water to the psalmist acknowledging that his soul thirsted for God like a deer pants for water.  Nothing else will quench that thirst.  Other waters may lead to disease and sickness.  The deer pants after drinkable water.  We pant after the water Jesus promised – that living water. 

The psalmist said he thirsted after God the Almighty… He pined after the One who leads to refreshing power.  Just as we want a bottle of water in a foreign land, we must seek after God. 

I had sought harder and harder for God.  And I blissfully felt the cool mist of His spirit when I shut down and relaxed, released and relied upon God to calm my soul, renew my spirit, and massage my heart.

I highly recommend panting after God.

Then the psalmist says  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  It is one thing for you to have a thirst that needs water.  It is quite another for your very soul to be in need.  Some may think that verse 2 just repeats verse 1 using different words, but I submit that verse two takes thirst to a new level.   And how marvelous God is to provide both – water to quench the body and water to satisfy the soul!

While in Cape Town, I had moments when I was filled with joy.  I was happy to be there.  I had survived that 17+-hour plane ride to get there.  I was excited by the promise of just being.  But there were also times when I was filled with angst – due to being so far from home, nerve-wracking thoughts on navigating the mountainous Cape Town in a manual car, and because I continuously got bitten by insects. 

God knew just what I needed.  He knew I needed the water, but I also yearned for a soul-refreshing encounter with Him.  I found myself praying all the time.  I found my soul being lifted in the simple things.  I was able to look at the mountains and see their beauty.  I was able to agree with my son, saying that the trees we viewed along the highway reminded him of those captured in the movie “The Lion King."  I felt God cleanse my soul as I sat in a Presbyterian worship service and sang unfamiliar songs and listened to the pastor preach a word about what happens in the in-between times.  God sent the Holy Spirit to further ignite my soul when the Hope City congregation began to sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  The unfamiliar was made familiar, and my soul was refreshed.  Not only by mountains or songs or even a sermon.  These were but the vehicles of the moment that allowed me to have an encounter with the Living God.  I knew my Savior Lives!!

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Just as the deer pants after the water, I panted after God.  Do not miss your chance to thirst after the living God!

The final thought in this short pericope poses the psalmist’s question: “When can I go and meet with God?”

This is no deathbed utterance.  This is not an “I’m done with life” word to be remembered by loved ones.  This is the moment when the body, the soul, and the spirit know what they want; know what they need.  It is that moment when every inch of your very being knows that it is only through God that you can be satisfied; can be rejuvenated, can once again be made whole.

I was quite aware that Jesus lives.  Just because I was in Cape Town did not mean I had forgotten where I get my strength.  It is not like I do not feel the presence of God regularly. 

I had become weary of my labors and knew I needed to stop and rest.  What completely works for me is stopping all the busyness of my life and allowing God to bring me life-sustaining peace and rest.  Asking when I can go with God is an acknowledgement that in this moment in time, I need Him!

I need his thirst-quenching water.  I need Him to fill my soul.  I need to meet with Him and feel His presence.

I need a word from God, and I need it every hour of every day.  But in the complex, multifaceted city of Cape Town on the motherland of Africa, God took his precious time to feed my soul and quench my thirst.

Here’s the thing.  You can meet with God anywhere and anytime.  God wants us to request a meeting with Him.  While we are alive and full of possibility, He wants us to seek Him out. 

Weary or glad, sad or overjoyed, old or young, in or out of season, God is always on time, ready and willing to quench our thirst.  When I need a word from God, He’s right there supplying just the word I need to hear.