Light touches the ether and dusts the sky with gold. The lark awakens and fills the silence with song.

Life stirs, and sleepy creatures emerge to scurry through another day.

The cycle begins anew, as it did since the dawn of time. Flowers turn their petals toward the sun's embrace. Humans grumble and, still half-asleep, settle into their daily routines.

Only a very few take a moment to appreciate the magnificence and magnitude of the Creator's hand in every tiny detail

***

We live in a world filled with the wonders of God's creation, but between our busy scurry to and from work, family obligations, tasks that need completion, things we want to do, and places we have to go, we get so numb to the world that surrounds us.

Over time, we see without seeing, hear without taking in, and observe without absorbing. The same thing happens with our walk with God.

At first, we pray from the very depths of our souls, search through His word for His guidance, and take moments to just spend with Him.

Soon enough, we do a quick but sincere prayer as we rush off to work, late and worried.

Days pass without us opening the Bible that lays accusingly on our bedside table until we just shove it in the drawer.

We go from seeking God's guidance to phoning a friend. Those little prayers become a reflex with no depth or meaning, and soon, days pass without us having spoken to God.

We go from going to church every Sunday and helping out to going once in six months, and even when we're there, our bodies go to church while our minds worry about tasks, chores, and bills.

Until something unexpected and threatening or bad happens—then we pray. Our troubles pass, and we slowly fall back into the same old patterns.

Thankfully, our God is patient, kind, loving, and compassionate. God comes after us when we get lost along the way, and He's there for us, even when we feel far from Him. At the right time, He brings us back to him, reminds us that we need him, and settles us back into alignment with his will when we turn to Him.

God gave us free will, and we need to understand the responsibility of that precious gift.

Our God is sovereign, and we need Him, but he does not need us... He wants us. Why? Because he doesn't stop loving us when we stumble and fall or choose to walk away. God doesn't stop loving us when we're being stubborn, selfish, or wayward.

Isn't it amazing?

Our Father loves us even when we're running from Him because He knows He designed our hearts to yearn for Him, and nothing will fill that yearning but His presence.

That unnamable thing you want and run after and think you will find in achievement, success, and riches? It isn't any of those things.

You are yearning for God.

The love you desperately want? It will not come from your spouse or anyone else; they are not capable of giving you what your heart needs, and because they cannot fill the void, you will be frustrated, and they will be stressed out and unhappy. No human pursuit or human being can fill a God-sized hole.