Looking to the Lord for Fulfillment

At the end of chapter three in our text, we find a lie that we must consider before proceeding to chapter four. The lie is, "I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings."

We will counter this lie with the following Scripture that speaks of our future glory with Christ. This is Romans 8:22-25 and we will read it the New Century version:

"We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth. Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children. I mean we are waiting for our bodies to be made free. We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, then that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have. But we are hoping for something that we do not have yet. We are waiting for it patiently."

Don't you see that we want God alone to be the object of our deepest longings? In the flesh, we see something that we must have, and then we find ourselves striving toward the goal of obtaining it. Our desires, our wills, and even our prayers are directed to fulfilling this particular longing. When we cannot achieve it, when our prayers go unanswered, then we become disappointed, disgruntled, and depressed.

I like to think that when I asked Jesus into my life, He came to dwell in my heart. When I asked Him to be the Lord of my life, then He sat on the throne in my heart. As I bow before Him as His servant, He maintains His rightful place in my life. Then, I find that there are times when I shift my focus to myself. I care only about my needs, my wants, and my own unfulfilled longings. Do you know what has happened then? I took the Lord's place on the throne! What happened? Where is the Lord? Well, He is still there in my life, but not where He should be. It is then that I stand, turn around, and kneel before the throne and ask Jesus to be Lord once again.

The Lord Jesus Christ points us toward our future home, where we will never be disappointed. People and things will fail us, but our Lord will not. It is true that our very insides groan as we wait for the purposes of God to be accomplished. Our challenge is to hold on and be patient as we give the Lord all of our expectations. "...you should try as much as you can to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add the ability to hold on; and to your ability to hold on, add service for God." 2 Peter 1:5-6.

God has a purpose for everything He allows or does not allow, including not giving us every heart's desire. He is doing something much greater in our lives, and we must learn to trust Him for it. He is building character and guiding us to be more Christ-like.

Thank you, Lord, for building into my life the qualities You know that I need. Thank you for pointing me in your direction, and give me the grace to always focus on You. Please take your rightful place in my life, and help me to look to You only to fulfill my longings. I love You, Lord. Amen."

Love, Karen