Look

Sing this song with me:

**
As the deer pants for the water
So my soul longs after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

I want you more than gold or silver
Only you can satisfy
You alone are the real joygiver
And the apple of my eye

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Lord, I long to worship You...

**

Poor old Wile E. Coyote. How many zillion Saturday mornings has he spent hopelessly trying to catch the Road Runner?

• How many times have we watched him open yet another ACME package and put together ridiculous contraption, only to miss netting, yet again, that elusive bird?
• How many times have we watched ourselves open yet another package of hope and put together a clever contraption of our own devices, only to miss netting, again and again, the elusive shreds of our faith and the truth that dangles on every end?

Everyone clings to the dream of knowing "the answer" as if actually knowing the answer might really be a cure-all. "Show us a miracle; give us a sign." the dogging crowds hounded Him day after day as He gave thirty-three of His eternal years to letting us follow Him around. But the more we asked, the more He seemed silent.

"What is the truth?" - to which even Pilate himself received no answer, and "what is the answer?" - to which we all still wait and watch for a reply.

On her deathbed, author Gertrude Stein purportly asked that universal question, "What is the answer?" When no answer came, she laughed and asked, "In that case, what is the question?" Famous last words.

Maybe it's not so strange that Jesus usually answers questions with another question. Maybe it's because it's not the answer that really matters, but the search itself that makes us who we are.

"To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love," wrote A.W. Tozer. He, too, discovered that the joy may truly be on the road there, more than on the road back.

If you've ever taught a Sunday school class, you've probably discovered that most eager-to-please fiver-year-olds have quickly caught on to the idea that Jesus is the answer... to everything. Ask who crossed the Red Sea with the Israelites, who ran from God and was swept into the sea, or any other question, and you'll inevitably get a chorus of "Jesus" shouted back. They've figured out that Jesus is always the right answer. After all, how could a teacher ever say that Jesus isn't the answer? Problem is, both in Sunday school and in life, He very often is the problem more than He is the answer. But He is the only problem worth trying to solve and the only question worth trying to answer.

And He is the only road ever worth taking.

The pursuit of the dream does mean more than the dream itself. Maybe even the Coyote's devilish plotting and planning makes his life more worth living than any one dished-up meal of Road Runner ever could. Maybe endlessly hunting for God, in the long run, is better than actually thinking we've captured Him.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for.. But I think I'm starting to like it that way.

If you could build your own life to live over again, what would you change about yourself?

Your circumstances?

Without the power to really do that, what can you do today to make your life closer to the One you've just imagined?

- Inserted from "Desperate For You" book..

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs." Ps. 100:1-2