Restless

♪I'll be waiting, anticipating; All that I aim for, what I was made for, with every heartbeat all of my blood bleeds running inside me, looking for You♫

Picture this, you're in an empty space, you can see nothing except vast desolation. No color, no vibrancy, no evidence of life, no meaning to anything. You begin walking, you wander and wander, never finding anything or anyone, getting tired and thirsty as you go. You search and search, but find nothing. Then in the distance you see a figure. He is standing there as you approach him. You get closer and closer only to find that he is holding out his arms, a glass of water in one hand. You rejoice as you run to the man, hugging him, taking the water, and thanking him just for being there so that what little bit of hope you had left was not lost. This is my picture of the song above. 

I think that, whether we know it or not, we are all restlessly wandering and searching for God. We all long for meaning and for love.  In fact, one of the first people on the earth, Cain, was a restless wanderer. In Genesis 4:14a, Cain has killed Abel and has been banished to be without God for the rest of his life. It reads, "Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth." I can only imagine the regret, pain, and solitude that Cain must have felt at this moment in his life. To be banished from the very presence of God. And despite this, he probably spent his entire life trying to find favor with God again. He was never able to find the peace that comes with serving, loving, and obeying the Lord.


So the next thing that I considered as I thought about being restless was the question, is it bad to be restless? Is it bad to be longing and searching for God? Is it bad if you can't find peace without Him? Is it bad to be thirsty for Him? Although others may care to differ, I think the answer is no. If you realize that you are in need of God, that is wonderful. Admitting that you are a sinner and that you need Him as your Savior is the first step and is what I was trying to paint in the first paragraph.  If you are searching deep enough inside yourself, you find a void and needs that only God can fill, and when you give it all up to find Him, You find the peace and assurance that you were looking for. 


After we have become Christians, I think restlessness is a substantial part of our Christian walk. We should never be satisfied with what we have and what we know about Jesus Christ. We should always be searching and thirsting for more. We should yearn to understand and know God more even though we ultimately know that we are only scratching the surface. However, in opposition to that, we should also be satisfied and enjoy the peace that comes with knowing God. It may sound confusing if you do not know what I am talking about, but I promise you that it makes perfect sense to those who have had both of these feelings. 


I challenge you to be restless in your search for God and getting to know Him. Thirst for Him, hunger for His word, and satisfy yourself (...maybe even indulge yourself) in it all.