An Impatient Desire

“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11

After leaving Thessalonica, Paul came to a city called Berea. Once his ministry began there, he immediately noticed a difference in the way the word of God was received. The Jews in Berea received the Word with “great eagerness”, meaning an impatient desire to act on it. They would inspect the scriptures in detail daily because they wanted truth. They wanted truth that would change their lives. They were hungry for the word and excited about it. They didn’t just want to hear it from someone else. They also wanted to see it for themselves. So they dedicated themselves to it.

When’s the last time you were eager for the word of God? When’s the last time you had an impatient desire to get into it? Impatient like a kid on Christmas morning, unable to contain the excitement of opening that first gift. You know, that kid that races downstairs, bulldozing everything is their path just to be able to passionately rip off the beautiful gift wrap that is annoyingly the only thing standing between him and his new treasure. Yeah. That type of impatient desire.

You see, the Bereans had the same eagerness as that of children on Christmas morning. The only thing they had on their mind was an impatient desire to hear from the Lord. And so they sought truth out for themselves by thoroughly searching the scriptures every single day. They couldn’t contain themselves. You see, the Bereans understood something that we miss at times. They knew that their eagerness for the Word of God and their devotion to carefully examining it daily, would yield them life-changing results that they could find nowhere else. They knew that if what Paul was saying was true then they would be changed forever! They were not just eager for the word, but they were eager for the God of the word.

You know, I honestly believe that a part of the reason we don’t run to the word of God with an impatient desire like the Bereans did, is because we underestimate its power. We underestimate what God designed for it to do in our lives. If we truly grasped the depth of the riches we have access to through God’s word, we would probably treat it with much higher regard than we do. In fact, let’s look at some of the power and ability that the word of God has:

-It makes us fully ready to do everything we are called to do. (2 Tim. 3:17)
-It is breathed out of the mouth of God, Himself. (2 Tim. 3:16)
-It was written to give us all the hope we will ever need. (Rom. 15:4)
-It is alive and active and full of the power of the Holy Spirit. (Heb. 4:12)
-It analyzes and judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
-It was written to pierce the very core of our souls. (Heb. 4:12)
-It gives clear direction as to which way we should go. (Ps. 119:105)
-It trains us on how to be in right-standing with God Almighty. (2 Tim. 3:16)
-It gives understanding and dispels confusion. (Ps. 119:130)
-It feeds and nourishes our souls and helps us to grow. (1 Pet. 2:2)
-They are actual life to us and healing to our bones. (Prov. 4:22)

You see, that nagging hopelessness, that heavy depression, and even that gnawing ache in our souls can all be healed by the power of His Word. Friends, these words we are talking about are more than just letters streamed together on a page. These are God-given, intentionally Spirit-filled words breathed out of the mouth of God Almighty, in order to do very specific things in the lives and hearts of His children. They are laced with the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and we have to know that they have a work to complete in us as well.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be, which goes forth from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Is 55:10-11

Friends, every time we sit with those words, He is doing something. He is supernaturally changing something, removing something, growing something, healing something, restoring something. When we sit with scripture, we don’t just sit with words, but we sit with the supernatural power of God. We may not see or feel all He is doing at the time, but we have to believe that God’s word has been sent to accomplish something very deliberate in us. So, if we are not immersing ourselves in it with all eagerness, then we are missing out on something that we were never designed to miss out on. Our God is actively behind every page of His scripture and the things that He wants to do in us, through it, cannot and will not fail. But, in order for that to happen we have to first begin to seek Him impatiently and diligently.

“For those who come to God, must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6

Diligently seeking God begins in the main place He designed for Himself to be found; His Word. You see, the Bereans were right where they needed to be in order for their lives to be changed; eager for God’s word. That’s the exact place God wanted them. Why? Because being eager meant they were open and ready to receive what He had prepared for them. He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, because an impatient desire for God leads to a receptive heart towards God.

Friends, God has purposeful and life-giving words to say to us through His scripture. He is just waiting on receptive hearts to begin to impatiently seek them out. So, let’s stop letting the powerful, stronghold-breaking words of God Almighty collect dust on our bookshelves. The Word of God was never designed to only be spoken to us from a stage on Sunday morning. These words were designed to speak into our lives during every moment of everyday. So, let’s run towards it. Let’s run as fast as we can with full excitement, bulldozing anything in our way as we impatiently desire to unwrap the gift of His Word. Believing that God will lovingly meet us in our eagerness and, through it, give us everything we were never meant to live without.

Questions to Journal Through

1. When was the last time you were eager for the Word of God? Spend some time journaling about what it is that either keeps you eager or prevents you from being eager.
2. Spend some time praying for God to give you an impatient desire for His word and pray it daily, believing He will meet you in that. Then write down some intentional steps you can take to begin to make spending time in the Word a priority in your life.