I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. (Ps. 143:6)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 143:5-6
In his book Heaven, author Randy Alcorn said, “Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for heaven. We think that what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, a large-screen television, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. What we really want is the person we were made for, Jesus, and the place we were made for—heaven. Nothing less can satisfy us.” He came to this conclusion after spending twenty-five years researching what God’s Word says about heaven. Alcorn diagnosed one of our main problems in life, and I couldn’t agree with him more. Especially since the tinsel of this world has lured me into longing for what I think I want too many times to count.
The psalmist described this homesickness as a thirsty soul wandering through the desert looking for water. When our spirits become weary from looking for satisfaction in the wrong places, we can pray and spread out our hands to God. He will always come through for us. His love sustains us, and our Good Shepherd leads us to still waters and satisfies our thirst.
And when we follow the psalmist’s example and meditate on all of God’s works, our homesickness lessens and we are able to carry on until the time comes for us to be carried to our real home.
Spend some time meditating on the magnificent works of God.
S. Schulz wrote devotionals for earlier editions of Light from the Word. They have been drawn from the archives and reprinted for this publication.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
