Tacos, Childbirth and God's Presence

 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him"...Psalm 37:7

When I was pregnant with our daughter, Ellie, I strongly craved Mountain Dew. I would've mowed down a puppy some days if that was what it took to get one! I stayed away from caffeine during my pregnancy with her, but the craving never stopped! I craved Mountain Dew because I knew it truly existed. I had experienced it before- cold, sweet, fizzy. I wasn't craving something that wasn't real or I had never tried. Because I've known it, my body desired it. 

God is drawn by hunger. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6). We were made to hunger and be satisfied. To hunger means that there is something more to be experienced that will bring that satisfaction. This is one truth that assures me that God is real. If I'm hungry for Him, just like the Mountain Dew, He must exist or else my hunger for Him wouldn't exist. He alone can satisfy that craving. 

Last week I told Ellie I was going to make lasagna for dinner. She loudly threw herself on the couch and said, "But, MOOOOOOOOM!! My body NEEDS tacos!!!" Her 4-year old self was desperate and crying out for tacos in all of its goodness. She brought her need to me, the source of satisfaction for her taco desire. So - we had tacos that night for dinner and she hummed through every bite. Because Ellie was hungry, she actively did something about her hunger. This action is what we find in Psalm 37:7. 

A God-hungry person is one who gets still before Him, one who waits patiently on Him with anticipation of being satisfied.  But the waiting, the stillness is not a passive thing, like I'm just going to wait here on my couch for God to meet my need. This is not what David is talking about. The word for, "patiently," in the Hebrew language is used 53 times in Scripture. Forty-nine times it is defined as, "writhing in pain as in childbirth," or "whirling in the air in dance." Both giving birth and completing a dance takes focus, disciplined resolve and passion to reach the end. No one could say that giving birth is a passive patience where one just lies around waiting for the expected child! My youngest daughter, Evelyn, is 6 months old. I remember well her birth and every detail leading up to it. Nothing else would satisfy until that child is born. God is drawn to this kind of patience...with people who know nothing else will satisfy but Him. 

The word, "wait," in the Hebrew means, "to set up an ambush," or "to lie in wait." This is pretty far away from a passive waiting. If you picture a hunter tracking a deer. They've prepared their weapons, their clothes their tree stand. They know where to go for that deer to pass by. They aren't looking for a deer in the middle of Kohl's. They are knowledgeable about what they are waiting for. They know where to find their deer. So they go out to that perfect spot and wait for that moment. Jeremiah 29:12-14 says, "Then you will call upon Me and come pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me. When you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord..." God promises when we seek Him, we will find Him. He is the One who desires to be found, but He's also the One who speaks to us in parables and riddles to move us to seek Him. His hiddenness creates hunger, craving. 

If we aren't diligent, careful, our worship and prayer life can be accomplished routinely without hunger - without passionate expectation that God, like the deer, is going to pass by. Religious routine doesn't place our hearts in the right place to seek and find God. Singing songs on Sunday can be done without that "waiting patiently" focus, disciplined resolve and passion it takes to find God's presence. It's true that God is always with us. But the manifest presence of God, that moment when you know He is here...that moment when all your senses are aware of Him...that moment when His presence changes you, meets you, connects with you...that presence of God requires seeking to find. It requires active partnership on our part. What a lame game of Hide-n-Seek if you never get up to find the One hiding! This week I'm setting up an ambush to find Him. I crave Him because He's real. I've encountered Him before and it wasn't enough.