Seeking

Have you ever lost something and couldn’t find it?  We all have.  When we look for it, do we earnestly seek it out or are we already sure that someone else has done something with it or thrown it away?  If we already have set in our mind that someone put it somewhere else or threw it away, we aren’t truly seeking for it because we have already decided we’re not going to find it.  We go through the motions of searching without sincerely seeking to find it…and we frequently then don’t find it.  When we search for it then later with a clear head and intent on seeking it out, that is when we find what we’ve been looking for before.  It was there the whole time!

Isn’t it the same with our relationship with God?  So often we find ourselves going through the motions but not earnestly seeking Him in our daily lives.  Perhaps we think He is too busy for us or that He moved where we can’t find Him.  It could even be that we really don’t believe what we say we believe.  If we’re just going through the motions then we are not truly looking to see Him.  If we ultimately don’t believe what we say, then we cannot see until we believe.

With regards to the believing, I heard a great quote this week that made me look at this whole topic from a completely different perspective.  I went to a renewal day where I work, and they showed us a short video called “Celebrate What’s Right with the World”.  It was about this man named DeWitt Jones who was a photographer for National Geographic.  I don’t know much else about him, but he said something in this video that made a lot of sense.  “You have to believe to see.” 

For so long, I thought, “Why can’t people see God in nature?”  He gave the answer!  Christ also did in Matthew 7:7-8.  He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone that asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  If we believe (ask God for forgiveness of our sins and to be Lord of our life) we will receive.  We can then seek and find as well as knock and have opened spiritual blessings to us.  It all starts with believing!

So I believe, now what?  How do I seek to find?  We seek to find by earnestly and continually looking for Him everywhere.  You can call it seeking with full intent on finding what you’re looking for.  Believe me, I know there are times in your life that it is hard.  I went through a time almost two years ago that was very dark.  I never stopped believing, but I really had to seek to find Him at all because the valley I was travelling through was so dark.  However, with time and some help, I made it through the valley into the marvelous light!  That is why this seeking topic hit a cord with my heartstrings because when you are so intent on seeking in the dark and that level of intensity continues when you finally emerge from the dark – oh my goodness!  You then can see God everywhere!  It is amazing and can at times be overwhelming!  When watching the miracle of everyday nature can bring tears to your eyes, you know you’ve found Him!  Grab Him and don’t let go! 

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

What happens when we seek Him with all our heart?  Jeremiah says we find Him.  Finding Him is a glorious experience.  When you truly find Him, you feel Him and see Him in everything and everywhere!  Spiritual blinders are removed to see Him:

In the design of a Hosta leaf

In the miracle of a bumble bee in flight

In the nest building process of the birds

In the amusement of a baby as they discover their own hands

In the design of a cat’s tongue to lap water and groom them

In the ability of a human liver to auto-repair

In the dilation of a pupil when there is not enough light

In the sun rise

We really cannot see until we seek.  Once we seek and find, my, what a glorious world we find He has created for us!

Glory in His Holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!  Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!

1 Chronicles 16:10-11