Stephen C. Rice

Tonight I sit wide awake in the early hours of the morning as I wrestle with this question, “do I yearn for God”?  The song “Yearn” by Shane and Shane has captured me. It haunts me. I hear it everywhere I go. I can’t escape it.

Tonight, I understand why.  God has reminded me that there was a time when I thirsted for Him night and day–a time when He was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. There was a time when I would literally rather sneak away and spend time with Him than eat, and often did. A time when I devoured His Word every day. A time when I looked for any and every opportunity to share the story of Jesus.

Tonight, He reminded me of special moments at the Morehead Baptist Student Union, of the afternoon I led a man to Christ on the streets of Flemingsburg, of nights sitting on the hill above my house at Banner, and of day-long hikes in the hills of eastern Kentucky–all because I yearned for Him. All because He was everything to me. All because I was desperate for Him. All because I couldn’t get enough.

God is reminding me tonight and it’s painful–so painful that it’s hard to see as I type, but the pain gives me hope that He hasn’t given up on me. The pain gives me hope that He will still use me in His work, but His message has never been more clear. “My son, only if you yearn for Me! There’s no shortcut….YEARN! There’s no secret–YEARN! There’s no other way–YEARN! YEARN!”

The chorus of “Yearn” by Shane and Shane goes like this:

Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.

In humility can I ask you, do you yearn for Him? Is He everything to you? Do you burn with passion in your life for Him, and only Him?  If so, praise God! If not, then do whatever it takes to get there. Remove anything in your life that dampens your fire and passion for Him. Yearn! Yearn for Him! He desires it. He deserves it. He demands it.

“Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.”