God Is Not Lost

"I've been played. This is a set up." I said yesterday as I sat on the floor rooting through the kitchen trash. 

Yeah, yeah I get: If I can dig through the trash to find a coupon, I can "diligently seek" God who is much more important. I'm sure this is a coincidence that when I am going to write about seeking God I have to dig through rubbish. Yeah right. God has a sense of humor. :-)

About a year ago, I was watching a movie that was kind of lame. At one point one character asked another, "Have you found Jesus?" To which the other answered, "I didn't know He was lost."

I laughed. That was a stupid line, but I'm going to admit that I laughed. Why? Because He's not lost! I guess when I read the scriptures about seeking God and finding Him, I had never thought about it in those terms. That's a surprise because I usually think about things in goofy ways.

So what does it mean to seek God? Not everything we seek is something that is lost. Sometimes when we seek we are making something our goal or it is our desire. We can seek fame and fortune. We can seek an audience with the King.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV

The Amplified Bible explains "seek."

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 AMP

When we crave, we usually try to satisfy our cravings with that desire. "Require as necessity" makes me think of my next breath. I don't think about my next breath unless it's not there. I have to have it. God should be like our breath: if He's not there, we'll die. I have to have You or I die.

¹²Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.

¹³Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you, says the Lord, Jeremiah 29:12-14 AMP

One definition of find is "to meet; encounter." That's what we're looking for: an encounter with God. It's up-close, real-life, and personal. He wants us to make an effort to meet Him. We're not going to meet Him by accidentally tripping over Him. We have to seek Him.

Father, I thank You that when we seek You, we don't have to dig through garbage. But sometimes we have to dig through the clutter in our minds and hearts and through all the worthless things that distract us. I pray that we will say like the psalmist:

When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8 NKJV

Next: God Rewards

This is where we separate the men from the boys or the true believers from the (demons?). Yikes! We believe God is; now we have to prove it.

We look back at Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We prove our faith by seeking God. For me, the first part is easy. Of course I believe God is. I believe He rewards and blesses those who diligently seek Him, too. But I have room for improvement on the "diligently seek Him" part. Yes I seek God by reading the scriptures and by praying, but my actions aren't up to the level of faith where I think they should be because I don't seek Him as much as I should.

¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? James 2:19-20

The smart aleck Denise version would be: You say you have faith because you believe in God. Big deal! That puts you right up there with the demons. But they tremble in fear and awe of God (do you even do that?) If you really believed, your life would prove it or what's the point?

Wow! That was kind of painful to write. It was like slapping myself upside the head.  In James, the scriptures talk about good deeds as in charitable acts and helping those in need. Good deeds include seeking God and obeying Him.

This is the fruit I expect as a result of planting seed in my heart about who God is. I expect my desire to spend more time with Him to increase.

¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. Jeremiah 29:12-14a NIV