Seek and Find

Jeremiah 29:13

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

We used to play hide and seek in our house when the kids were young. All of them were little humans and could hide just about anywhere. You had to look in the tiniest places to find them. I remember one time we could not find Emily because she was a good hider. We found her sitting on the top shelf of the pantry after many times overlooking that same spot. She won that round.

This verse comes from a letter to the exiles in Babylon, to the people of Israel who are now living in a foreign country, made to serve a foreign king. And believe it or not, God led them there. I love the sign that says, “Everything happens for a reason, and sometimes the reason is because you are stupid and make bad decisions.” Yes, things happen to us by our own accord. Not everything we deem bad in our lives is the work of Satan.

Our lives may feel like we are in a game of hide and seek. We know God is out there working in our lives, but we cannot find Him or see Him. We are safe to stay and yell at God, “Where are you?” just like when we played the game with the girls, but no one ever came out, it was a challenge for you to find them. I remember going through a dark house by myself, looking for small children in dark places, and I knew they were there. I just had to seek and find them.

Seeking the Lord with a half-hearted commitment is like yelling at the kids hiding, you cannot win the game that way. I had to go and find them all over the house. When was the last time you told God that you would go and seek Him under any condition? When you are mad? When you lost a friend? Are you prepared to seek the Lord in every area of your life? I could not just find one kid and call it good, I had to find all of them, no matter how long it took. The game was not ready for the next round until we found all of the girls. Seek the Lord with all of your heart, and you will find Him. Don’t expect to find the Lord working when you just show up on Sunday out of obligation.

Every day, every hour, seek the Lord. Start a conversation and listen to the Holy Spirit guide you with that still, small voice. Seek and find is an action game, it is not a passive game where you wait. You must go and seek to find anything. Have you started seeking yet?

Prayer: Father, help us to seek You with all of our hearts. I pray that we do not let life get in the way of seeking You. I pray that we live life just where we are to the glory of the Lord, proclaiming Your gospel to whom You send us. I pray that we stop sitting on the couch waiting for You to move; rather, I pray we would just do something, anything except nothing. In Jesus’ name, amen.