Having recently acquired a waffle maker of our own, we were eager to attempt this "effortless" short-cut method to make one of my personal favorites: brownies (After all, who wants to cook them the time-consuming traditional way?).
Upon receiving the green light from our waffle maker that our brownie waffle (hereby referred to as "braffle") was complete, we eagerly lifted the lid. However, instead of the decadent, waffle-like brownie we had expected and longed for, we were met with only a pile of chewy (and somewhat burnt) brownie crumbles.
As my husband made the most of the situation (he slapped some Rum Raisin ice cream on the first batch of crumbles and went to town!), I decided to give it one more try with the remaining batter--to no avail. As I was excavating disastrous "braffle" number two from the waffle maker, a simple, yet profound, truth entered my mind: if you want something to be genuinely good and rewarding, there is rarely a short cut--it will take time and effort.
In that moment, I recognized that the Lord himself had planted the thought in my mind in order to admonish my heart. Recently I have felt so underwhelmed by my relationship with the Lord. Though I claim to hunger for His nearness and for the sweet sense of joy, peace and purpose that accompanies time spent in His presence, I admit that I have put forth little time and effort to truly seek Him and know Him. It's as though I've been expecting a rich, rewarding and satisfyingly good relationship with Him, but have been attempting to attain it via the "effortless" short-cut method.
If the "braffle" experience has taught me anything, it's that my fellowship with the Lord will not be savory and satisfying without effort-- that is, without my effort to intentionally and proactively seek Him, to know Him, to communicate with Him and devote my heart, mind, and soul to Him. And much like it takes a sacrifice of time (30 painstaking minutes to be exact!) to enjoy a batch of genuine, gooey, decadent, warm brownies, it takes an even greater, yet exceedingly rewarding, sacrifice of time to experience genuine, all-satisfying fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
And so the essential question I hope to ponder in my heart is this: What degree of time and effort should I be devoting to knowing the Lord more fully? What amount of time and effort will it take from me in order to experience the genuine, all-satisfying relationship that I desire with Him?
As I consider this question, my mind gravitates to Psalm 119. In this passage, the author describes the depths of his love for and devotion to knowing God by knowing his laws and His word. The effort he exerts towards knowing the Lord more fully is far from passive and effortless. His intentional pursuit of the Lord can be perceived plainly within the following few verses:
"I have stored up your word in my heart..." (Psalm 119:11)
"In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. (Psalm 119:14)
"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." (Psalm 119:97)
"I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments." (Psalm 119:97)
These words boast of a fervent love for God's laws as well as a passionate devotion to knowing and applying these laws. And as a result of this follower of Christ drawing near to God by means of studying and knowing His words, God seems to have graciously filled his heart with a consuming satisfaction in Him--a satisfaction so overwhelming, it led to the very conception and birth of this entire Psalm.
I don't know about you--but that is the type of relationship I long for with our Savior and King. I desire to long so desperately for Him that it's as though my very heart is panting for Him. And I desire to delight so exceedingly in Him that it's as though I were delighting in the most valuable riches attainable here on earth.
It seems to me that the author did not simply attain this level of nearness to the Lord in one day. The act of storing up God's word into his heart implies that he spent diligent time reading God's word in an effort to store it there. In fact, God's word appears to be so deeply embedded into his heart during this particular season of his life that he can meditate upon it all day! So it is plain that he had put forth the time and effort to know God's word, so as to love it and meditate upon it, so as to experience such an elevated level of nearness to God.
To be clear, I do not believe that seeking the Lord through the reading of His word and through prayer and through service will automatically result in nearness to Him. There is a danger that we could approach these things out of a mechanical sense of routine rather than humble authenticity. I think the Christ-follower who wrote Psalm 119 was aware of this danger when he made this plea towards the end of the passage:
"Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts." (Psalm 119:173)
He is acknowledging that, ultimately, his desire for God, his love for God, his pursuit of God, and his ability to uphold the commandments of God all depend upon the help of God. As we do our part, and determine in our hearts to seek to know the Lord more fully, the Lord will reward our efforts and help us to draw nearer and nearer to Him. We will experience the rich, genuine, all-satisfying relationship we desire with the Lord when we, like the Psalmist, make a conscience choice to seek Him and know Him more fully, in all humility. And so, let us be willing to exert the necessary time and effort, whatever that may look like for each one of us individually. Let us all, as Christ-followers, strive to know him more fully--with His help and with our minds set above.
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