What Do You Long For?

I’ve been spending an extended time in Psalm 119 as I’m reading Charles Spurgeon’s Daily Treasury from the Psalms. It can be tempting to speed through the 176 verses to check off one more psalm, but there are things worth stopping to ponder along the way. Consider these few verses:

40- Behold, I long for Your precepts; in Your righteousness give me life!

81-82- My soul longs for Your salvation; I hope in Your word. My eyes long for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

123- My eyes long for Your salvation and for the fulfillment of Your righteous promise.

131- I open my mouth and pant, because I long for Your commandments.

174- I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.

The original Hebrew uses a few different words that are translated as “long for” in the ESV. Some other translations use “faint” or “fail” in verses 81-82. In any case, the idea is a strong desire and need. I suspect most of us don’t long for God’s commandments and precepts like this.

However, if we include all of the promises and truths of Scripture, I would hope that every Christian desires and relies on them. The Bible is our source of hope for every aspect of salvation, sanctification, and the glory that is to come, because in it we see how God works all things together for the fulfillment of His promises. Spurgeon notes:

“This is an intense longing that is not satisfied to express itself with the lips but speaks with the eyes. Eyes can speak eloquently; they sometimes say more than tongues… Especially are our eyes eloquent when they begin to fail with weariness and woe… and so heaven shall be taken by storm with the artillery of tears.”

While we endure through this life, there are many times for tears—conflict between factions, relational challenges, struggles with sin, unmet needs, illness, weakness, death. We may weep with the desire to see God bring swift resolution.

The older I get, the more I long for the final consummation of God’s plan of redemption. As we’ve been reminded recently, no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return, but we look forward to the end of the craziness of this life and the beginning of a perfect eternity. For many people that Day will come unexpectedly and will be filled with great fear and anguish. But for many others around the globe it will bring great rejoicing, for our longings will finally be fulfilled when we see Christ.

“But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet. 3:13 Amp).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Enduring Love

I was thinking this morning of Psalm 136 and the reminder to “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (v. 1). When you read through the whole psalm, it is tempting to skim over the repeated refrain “for His steadfast love endures forever” as the author recounts the exodus from Egypt. But that refrain may actually be the part we need to remember most. God’s steadfast love really does endure forever.

On this particular day we remember the events of 9/11, and we also are saddened by the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We live in a sinful and broken world, and yet God’s steadfast love endures forever.

A child wanders off and dies. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Another family adopts a child. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

One person lives decades with chronic illness. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Another person dies at a young age. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some nations are perpetual battlegrounds. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some nations enjoy centuries of peace. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

When we are on the mountaintop, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

When we are in the deepest valleys, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Michael Card wrote about Romans 5, “If we dared to be honest with Paul or ourselves or God, we might mutter that we were hoping for a little more than just hope as we huddle in our worn-out, earthly, cancer-ridden, death impregnated tents. But as he so often does, Paul anticipates our response. “Hope does not disappoint us,” he counters, because God has poured something into these hearts that beat so feebly behind the worn-out flaps of our earthly tent. He has poured His love into them through His Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)” (The Hidden Face of God, ch. 26).

No matter what happens in our lives or in the world around us, God’s love never changes. That is what we hold onto and gives us comfort and hope when things go wrong. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever” (Ps. 125:1). God’s love helps us to endure the hard times and to keep faith when we don’t understand. Let us cling to Him as firmly as He holds onto us.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps. 118:1).

© 2025 Text and image Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Right Empathy

If you spend much time in the Christian blogosphere, you probably have seen some reference to the “sin of empathy.” There have been a number of books and podcasts on the subject. The main issue seems to be the variety of conflicting definitions of what empathy actually is. Ed Welch stated, “Empathy is the ability to step into someone’s world in a way that the person feels understood. It is not approval of that world, but it is an understanding of it.”

Rather than wading into the debates, I want to focus on what Scripture says, and there is no better place to start than the two greatest commandments as declared by Jesus:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40).

Whatever we do or say is to be rooted in God’s love for us, and should reflect the example of Jesus Christ as He chose to live among sinful humanity. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He came to live in the flesh and experienced the worst of mankind, yet He was described as being full of both grace and truth. His love was revealed in His choice to die for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). And now He intercedes for us as one who has been where we are. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

While He ministered here on earth, He had compassion for those who were sick and hurting, but He was not afraid to call out sin and urge people to repent and change. After He healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, He told him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, than nothing worse may happen to you” (John 5:14, see also 8:11). When the rich young man came up to Him, Jesus looked at him with love and told him to go sell all that he had and then follow Him. This was not a challenge the man would accept (Mark 10:21-22). For Jesus, loving others meant helping them to see their true needs rather than leaving them in whatever sin or lifestyle they found comfortable.

So too are we to love others by exercising both grace and truth. “Love is patient and kind… it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7). We are not meant to bury the truth of God’s Word in an effort to make others feel more accepted. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ… Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:15, 25).

False empathy says, “I understand why you feel the way you do, and so I support you in whatever choices you make.” But true empathy says, “I understand where you’re coming from, but I love you too much to let you stay on a path that leads to eternal destruction.” It is far easier to affirm others than to correct or confront sin. There are different factors in every relationship, and we won’t always get it right. We all need great wisdom in relating to those we love, and who better to ask than the One who became flesh and exemplified perfect grace and perfect truth?

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

When You Don't Feel

Scrolling through some old podcasts, I found some from 2023 with Brant Hansen on Family Life Today. He made the comment that our culture places far too much emphasis on feelings, and noted that if there is no absolute truth, then all you have left are feelings. The unwritten rule is “If it feels good, do it!” Even in the church we can go astray when we place more emphasis on our “experience” of God and faith than we do our beliefs. As Paul said in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The Bible never says, “If you feel saved” or “You should feel God’s love for you.” If we imply that the assurance of salvation is something we must feel, then a whole lot of people have reason to question their faith.

In that set of podcasts, Brant and host Dave Wilson both share that they don’t seem to experience their faith the way some other people do. I’d say I’m probably pretty similar to them. I usually don’t feel anything in particular in times of worship, Bible study, or prayer (unless I happen to be in a time of deeper depression that makes me teary). Sometimes I will get choked up when someone shares a testimony, though that’s rare. And the only couple times I know God has spoken to me were when I knew I had to do something I didn’t want to do, like repent! So if I were depending on my experiences to define my faith, I’d definitely feel like I was missing something.

Some people are more reactive to certain stimuli, and they may regularly find church to be a very moving experience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their faith is stronger. Some people can be manipulated by the style of music, but they may or may not have a good knowledge of the Bible or what it means to trust God.

Feelings are not always based on facts, and can change with time or circumstances. When feelings diminish or are missing altogether, faith must say “I know this to be true whether I feel it or not.” That is reflected in many of the people listed in Hebrews 11. They obeyed by faith even when they didn’t understand all the details or sense immediate rewards for their actions.

It is repeated several times in Scripture that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (e.g. Rom. 4). It is belief that matters, not “feel good” experiences. How many people go to the altar repeatedly because they no longer feel saved? And how many others are relying on some experience they had in the past even though their lives give no evidence of obedience to Christ?

I’m reminded of a chorus that became popular in the 1970s that never made much sense to me, “Sure the presence of the Lord is in this place, I can feel His might power and His grace…” Maybe some people do have that experience in worship, but not me. I don’t think we should presume something is normative when Scripture doesn’t make it so. There weren’t a lot of people in the Bible who had direct experiences of God’s presence, and those who did usually ended up bowing down in fear (e.g. Ex. 3:5-6; Is. 6:5; Acts 9:4).

If we always felt God’s love, we wouldn’t worry so much about whether other people love us or approve of us. If we always sensed God’s presence, we wouldn’t really need faith. And if such experiences were universal, our churches would be full because no one would have reason to doubt. But since we can’t rely on our feelings and senses to “prove” God’s existence, we have to decide if we’re going to trust that what the Bible says is true and keep walking by faith.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen [or experienced]” (11:1).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

One in Christ

I spent last week at the Appalachian regional family camp for my denomination, which I’ve been attending for a dozen years or so. I was struck by how this particular camp reflected what the body of Christ is supposed to be. Aside from the usual hugs and laughter, we united in prayer for a couple people facing serious medical issues and others who have lost loved ones. There was a lot of encouragement, remembering, worship, and pointing one another to the truths of Scripture and who God is. The week ended with the regional delegate meeting where there was the potential for divisiveness, but that was averted through a lot of prayer and remembering that we are in this work together.

Whether it is among denominations, regions, churches, or our individual lives, we can be quick to forget that we are one body. We often feel isolated, and we think we have to take matters into our own hands to get anything done. In Ephesians 4, Paul is emphatic:

“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body… [gifted by God] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith…” (1-4, 12-13).

When we truly believe that we are one in Christ, we are more likely to pursue His will through prayer, rather than setting our own agendas. We will be more concerned to “look not only to [our] own interest, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 24). We can seek to understand where others are coming from, rather than making assumptions.

On the individual level, being part of the body of Christ is a reminder that we are not meant to live in isolation or to keep all our problems and worries secret. Henri Nouwen wrote in The Inner Voice of Love:

“Your journey is made not just for yourself but for all who belong to the body… The journey you are choosing is Jesus’ journey, and whether or not you are fully aware of it, you are also asking your brothers and sisters to follow you… Your choices also call your friends to make new choices” (50).

As members of one body, we come together to share our heartaches, joys, struggles, and join in the work set before us all. We encourage one another (1 Thess. 4:18), pray for one another (James 5:16), equip one another (Eph. 4:12), and spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24). Family camp happens to be a good example of extended quality time together, but these things should also be occurring on a regular basis through local churches and small groups. We were never meant to go through this life alone.

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor. 12:26-27).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan text and photo from AACA campground in 2020. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Out of Control

Many in our world are running after power and control. From rulers of nations to overseers of households, we don’t like things that are unpredictable or outside of our control. And yet even in our own lives there is much we cannot do. Henri Nouwen wrote in The Inner Voice of Love:

“There are places in you where you are completely powerless. You so much want to heal yourself, fight your temptations, and stay in control. But you cannot do it yourself… Your willingness to let go of your desire to control your life reveals a certain trust. The more you relinquish your stubborn need to maintain power, the more you will get in touch with the One who has the power to heal and guide you. And the more you get in touch with that divine power, the easier it will be to confess to yourself and to others your basic powerlessness” (27).

God never intended for us to be self-sufficient. We were made to fulfill different roles on earth, and thus we need one another for basic survival. And we were made for relationships, so we need to give and receive love. And above all this, we need God, our Creator and Sustainer, to maintain our very existence. Jesus said to His disciples:

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? … But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!” (Luke 12:25, 28).

We can’t even grow a tomato apart from God, much less control the events of our lives or the actions of others. Warren Wiersbe has a short book on John 15 titled Abide. He notes:

“The Father often has to remind us that we are branches and not the Vine itself. He permits us to go through circumstances that bring out our weakness and His strength. He repeatedly teaches us, ‘apart from me, you can do nothing’ (Jn. 15:5).”

It’s tempting to think that we have more control than we actually do, but it doesn’t take much to derail our plans. A doctor’s diagnosis, a reckless driver, a temperamental coworker, an unexpected flood, “the best laid schemes of mouse and men go oft awry” (Robert Burns).

In each and every situation, our learned response should be to turn to the One who is omniscient and omnipotent, and trust that He will sustain us to His determined end. Nouwen wrote, “Be quiet, acknowledge your powerlessness, and have faith that one day you will know how much you have received” (28).

“I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it’s for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.

I let go of my desire for power and control.

I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.

I let go of my desire for survival and security.

I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen.”

–Thomas Keating

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men… Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:25, 31).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

The Eyes Have It

The subject of social media and artificial intelligence has come up on recent episodes in two different podcasts that I listen to. (Links are below.) In both cases, they warned of the increasing relational disconnect that we are experiencing. We are made for connection with other people. One of the first skills we learned as infants was to make eye contact with our parents. And before long, we learned how to follow someone else’s gaze to see what they were looking at. Sight, sound, and touch are vital to our development as children and our health as adults. Those with visual or auditory deficits rely on their other senses even more. (Imagine if Helen Keller had never had Anne Sullivan to learn from.) It has long been known that infants don’t thrive if they are kept isolated or ignored in their cribs.

I watched a behind the scenes clip from a favorite PBS drama, and was a little surprised to hear one of the directors say that he prefers real film for close-up scenes because the digital cameras somehow lose the sparkle in the eyes. Actors look less human simply by using digital technology.

Why is it that we have accepted so readily this disembodied life that technology facilitates? Why is it so easy for us to self-isolate and pull away from small groups and corporate worship? I believe this is one of the great deceptions foisted on us by the enemy of our souls, that screens are an acceptable alternative to life together. It’s ironic that we turn from the “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5) and we turn to media that is neither god nor man.

When God created the world, He quickly proclaimed, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). He wasn’t referring just to marriage, but to relationships with others as well. Apparently, it was also a regular practice for God Himself to show up in the Garden of Eden and talk with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8). Then in the turning point of the biblical narrative, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Though there were written Scriptures, the incarnation was essential because God is a relational being. He could have created some impersonal method of salvation, but that wasn’t good enough for His plan. He wasn’t just saving people from their sin and its consequences. He was saving them to relationship with Him for eternity. And not just with Him, but with all of His children by faith.

I have a suspicion that in the new heavens and new earth, there’s going to be a lot less reliance on technology and a lot more relational interaction, because that is how God designed us. My local grocery store just installed several self-checkouts, despite the fact that they’d tried once before and no one used them. Even though I’m not a terribly social person, I want to interact with real cashiers and at least try to share a smile with them and thank them for their work.

Facebook seems to think that all I need in life is more videos of pandas rolling down hills, and ideas for new Lego builds. But what I need, and what I think we all need, are reminders that there are real people who will look us in the eye and actually see us for who we are. We need that in our daily lives, at work or school, running errands, and especially through our local churches as we connect with one another and worship God together.

Technology can sometimes help to keep lines of communication open (though it can also hurt too), but screens can never replace relationships with real people. Let’s not let them.

“For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them” (Matt. 13:14, quoting Isaiah 6:9-10).

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Russell Moore interview with Nicholas Carr- “Building Attention in a Digital Age”

Geoff Holsclaw interview with Joshua Cocanye- “Why We Gather: The Neuroscience Behind Corporate Worship”

The Life of Helen Keller film segment

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.