The work you do for God will never go deeper than your relationship with Him.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you,
O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
– Psalms 42:1-2
There is no substitute for experiencing the presence of God. If I’m only serving God and not drawing near to Him, I can get very dry and shallow in my relationship with God. Does that ever happen to you? Busyness without connection to God is one common way that burnout happens. There have always been people in my life that have helped me get back on track in this area; the temptation for me to become too focused on serving is very real every week.
I remember starting out in ministry with so much zeal, and my mentor, Carl, expressing, “The work you do for God will never go deeper than your relationship with Him.” Those words still echo inside of me often!
Picture a deer exceeding 400 pounds and having a large number of antlers; this is no Bambi level of thirst! The psalmist who wrote the above passage had no weak or small hunger for God. He was a “son of Korah” which was the Levitical choir appointed by David to serve in the temple. Today’s equivalent would be a worship leader. This is a very honest and vulnerable psalm written by someone in a leadership position.
Long-term followers of Jesus and leaders have struggles in their faith and their walks with God. The author of Psalm 42 didn’t hide what was happening in his life; he put it out there for us to read. The Bible doesn’t cover up the human side of our faith: it gives us raw honesty. You will notice the author is depressed since five times he used the words downcast, despair, or disturbed. The psalmist was often in tears as he was surrounded by people taunting him, yet he continued to praise God and expressed his thirst for God in the deepest way.
It’s truly an inspiring example of someone who has learned how to cherish God and the grace of His presence.
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Excerpt republished with permission from Rooted in Grace by Jesse Bradley c. 2012.
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