Seeking God

God is found by people who look for Him with everything they have.

God’s promises usually carry a premise. He says He will be found — and then says what by.

Scripture — Jeremiah 29:11–13 (OTB)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and keep you from harm, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me, come to me and pray, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me, and you shall find Me, when you choose to search for Me with all your heart.”

Notice who God said that to. Not to people who had it together — to exiles, a nation that had abandoned Him about as thoroughly as a nation can. Whatever is behind you is not the disqualifier you assume it is. He is more interested in your future than in your past.

But “with all your heart” is not a warm feeling. You already know what it looks like, because you have almost certainly wanted something that way — a sport, a degree, a person, a business. It came first. You thought about it constantly. You talked about it. You arranged your friendships around it. You gave things up for it, and you did not quit.

That is the standard. God is asking to be wanted the way you have already proved you can want something.

The man in Acts 8 shows what it looks like. An Ethiopian official rides roughly 1,300 miles to a temple he will not even be allowed to enter, and reads Scripture on the road home. Four things are true of him, and every one of them is copyable:

1. He sacrificed to get near God. The distance was the point.
2. He read the Bible on his own — not as an assignment, not waiting for a teacher.
3. He was humble enough to ask for help. “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
4. He obeyed immediately. No delay between seeing it and doing it.

Not one of those requires training. That is why they are here.

Recite it: God is found by people who look for Him with everything they have.

Reflect & do

Of the four traits, name the one that is weakest in you. Do one concrete thing about it this week — and pick the day now, before you close this page.