Where Do You Run?

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Psalm 63:1-4, 7-8: O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

What It Is Speaking to Me

Today I was reminded of a song lyric:

"Where do you run, my soul?

Where do you go when wells run dry?"

I do not know much about your movie and television-watching background, but chances are you have seen a film or television episode where someone has to struggle through a desert. They move through a sea of sand dunes, covered in sweat and dirt. Their faces are dry, and their lips are cracked and bleeding. As the empathetic viewer, you desperately wish they would find water. You think about how wonderful it would be for them to find a pristine lake where they could soak, drink their fill, and be refreshed.

Gratefully, I have not had to trudge through a desert, and I hope none of you have either. But likely you and I share the desert experience emotionally or spiritually. Our will is sapped by the heat of life, our emotional canteen is bone dry, and the joy we normally have is more like a mirage on the distant horizon.

Perhaps we ask ourselves the same question the song’s author asked:

Where do you run, my soul?

Our destination should be the same place King David’s was: the sanctuary. Not merely a church building. That is not a bad place to look, but the point was, and still is, that the sanctuary was where God’s presence was. Where do we run? We run to His presence.

To belabor the analogy, His presence is not a desert mirage. It is the oasis. The “shadow” of His wings provides shade from the heat of life. In His presence, His hand upholds us.

Where do you run, my soul? Run to Him.

What Is It Saying to You?

Are you in a desert? What or who are you running to?

If you have walked through a desert season, how did you get through it?

How do you return to His presence regularly?

What Are We Going to Do About It?

Desert or not, run to His presence today. Find time in the sanctuary.