before the promised land

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You are our daily bread, You are our daily bread

And we will seek Your face before we seek Your hand

You are our daily bread, You are our daily bread

And we desire You before the Promised Land

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a relationship. that's what our Savior wants with us. He's not a dictator, not a absentee father, not a prayer-answering vending machine... He is a constant, faithful friend. wanting to know you intimately, desiring to walk hand in hand, step by step through life's darkest valleys- THIS is what our Jesus longs for above anything else.

so often, our human hearts decide to pursue answers, to look toward the physical things we think our prayers will provide us; and expect those physical shows of the Father's power to satisfy us. i'll let you in on something that my sweet Jesus taught me in the midst of my relentless pursuit of those tangible responses to my prayers- they will never be enough. they will fall short. there will never be a part of our broken and human selves that will not wish for healing, not long for answers to the hard things. so many prayers prayed on our knees, begging our Father for the 'things' that He is able to give simply end up leading to frustration and confusion- why can we not clearly hear His voice? why is He not answering now? does He not see how much we are struggling? oh how our human hearts just do not understand- and this is SUCH a hard place to be- believe me I know.

our Lord is good, gracious, kind and faithful among so many others, and our spirits ache when we feel far from Him- when we do not feel His presence beside and behind us. but what if we realized that His presence is not greatest felt when He answers our prayers, but in our day-to-day mundane lives? what if, instead of praying so hard and so often when tough circumstances arise, we chose to be present with our Savior everyday, even in the moments when we don't FEEL like we need Him?? because, the truth is, we need Him all the time, even when our human hearts and minds want to claim otherwise.

that struggle, that addiction, that heart-hurt that you are facing is just one of the MANY many battles that our King above has already conquered for us. we do not have to rely on our own strength and ability in the slightest- all we have to do it choose to get behind the shield that our protector is holding out for us. drawing near and taking the hand of the one who has completely overcome the things that weigh so heavy on our hearts makes complete sense. yet for some reason we still choose to walk alone. how much more secure and sure would our walk be if we simply chose to draw near to our Jesus, defender and light in darkness?

it takes a heart shift, i'll say that much. it is not promised to be easy when we say yes to seeking after a close friendship with the Lord- we must know and not skirt around the truth that real, deep, fruitful relationships take time to develop. but, the more we choose to daily take the hand of Jesus, walk with Him and grow in our awareness of how faithful and good a friend He is, the more our hearts will have no choice but to fall deeply in love with Him. it is then that our eyes will be truly opened, seeing that He has been our best friend all along, waiting for us, always speaking tender words of encouragement and truth over our hearts. it is then that we will understand, it was never about the destination. it was never about the answer to our problem, the fix for what is broken. it's about the journey. recognizing that walking step by step with the Father is far better than any answer He can provide. understanding that having His light illuminate our every step in the darkness gives our hearts and minds far greater peace than sprinting through the shadows toward what we think to be the answer to our problem. it's a journey- and a daily prayer. a prayer from a humble heart that says: Jesus, I want to desire you- before the promised land.