Let me introduce four categories of people. Some of us may fall into either one of these categories. A conversation between two young people went like this. Charlie: Of course there’s a God! We all basically know there is. Cynthia: I know no such thing. Charlie: O course you do! When you think to yourself and most of our waking life is taken up thinking to our self, you must have that feeling that your thoughts aren’t entirely wasted, that in some sense they are being heard. I think it’s this sensation of silently being listened to with total comprehension that represents our innate belief in a supreme being, an all comprehending intelligence. What this show is that some kind of belief is innate in all of us. At some point most of us lose that, after which it can only be regained by a conscious act of faith. Cynthia: And you’ve experience that? Charlie: No, I haven’t, I hope to someday.”[1]
Charlie represents the first category who asserts that there is a supreme being, controlling everything. They express a desire to experience that supreme intelligence but don’t know how. Cynthia represents the second category that denies any such existence. The Bible calls them “Fools” (Psalm 14:1). In the New York Times #1 Best seller, “Eat, Pray, Love” Elizabeth Gilbert calls, this Supreme Being is GOD. For her calling God “that”(as he is addressed in Indian scriptures) feels rather impersonal, therefore when she prays she won’t pray, like many others do “to the Universe, the Great Void, The Force, The Supreme Self, The Whole, The Creator, The Light, The Higher power or the Shadow of the turning. She warmly refers God as Him.”[2]
Gilbert represents the third category of people who had everything yet are dissatisfied with life, searching for Peace, Joy and meaning for life in “Food, Sex and Religion.” Yet, there is a fourth category of people who believes that God exists, and he needs no proof or convincing. They believe that He is the most loving, kind and above all personal and approachable God. They have experienced Him through their conscious faith in Jesus Christ and are excited to Seek Him First in their lives. I belong to that category! How about you? I would like to make a bold statement; and declare may the year 2011 be a year of seeking God, in our individual lives, families and as a Church. For our study, let’s address the following: Why Seeking God is important? What does Seeking God mean? What are the rewards of Seeking God?
I. WHY SEEKING GOD IS IMPORTANT?
The first commandment God gave to the Children of Israel after they were freed from their slavery in Egypt explains the heart of God. He declared boldly, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God, am a jealous God.” Exodus 20:2-4
This scripture clearly indicates that it was He who delivered the Israelites from their slavery and no one else. God doesn’t play a second fiddle, and he shares his glory with no one else. He strictly warned them not to make idols of any form because he wanted to be their God. What is an Idol? An idol is nothing but an object of worship. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty.
Modern day idols could be Sex, Shekels, and Stomach, or Pleasure, Profession and Position, or Football, Fame and Family. When it comes to think of it there is nothing wrong with them, but when they begin to take the place of God and we are driven by them then it amounts to idolatry. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can side track us--unless we first seek God's kingdom and righteousness, and allow Him to breathe into what we make of life.
Why God insists that we must SEEK Him? Seeking God is good for us and not seeking Him can be destructive. God warned Israelites not to consult any other supernatural source for guidance except him alone. Leviticus 19:31 "'Do not turn to mediums or seek out Spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” Times have changed since then, but even with all the technological development there are still certain people consult spiritists and mediums instead of seeking God for guidance. A few scriptures to explain why Seeking God is important.
1 Kings 22:5 "First seek the counsel of the LORD."
I Chronicles 16:11 “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”
2 Chronicles 14:4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands.”
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Seeking God is a command to be followed but also is something to be cherished. Many in the Bible like, Moses, David, Joshua, the apostles and early Christians have delighted in Seeking God. For many depending on God for their needs was not a lowly thing but was the only thing they ever knew. With all the modern technology and development in the 21st century we have lost the art of Seeking God.
We have lot of self help books and manuals for “fix it or do it yourself” in the market. One way it is good, we can save a lot of money, but the flip side of it is that we are programmed to think that we ought to fix any and every thing in life, we become self sufficient and arrogant to a point thinking that we can even fix God. Undoubtedly with God given wisdom man indeed is able to fix many things; however there are certain hard core addictive behaviors, the root of depression, fear, anger or a wounded and broken heart can’t be fixed by us. One handy man in Gansevoort New York seems to have realized this message so his business slogan says, “We can fix everything but a broken heart.”[3] Some of us try so hard to fix our messed up lives with our own strength and get frustrated when we don’t see a break through. Others think that their problems are too big like the Mount Everest that even God can’t handle it so they give up in bringing their problems to God.
I have good news for you; there is nothing impossible that you and God can not do together In 1994, just before I got married to my wife I had to climb several mountains, and cross several oceans, see several financial miracles. Here I was all alone sitting in a room far away from my own country, family, and friends in a strange country Holland. I was excited about the prospect of marriage but at the same time nervous and fearful about the unknown future. During that time I was deeply ministered and affirmed by a song by Scott Wesley brown. Listen to the words, “There is no problem too big God cannot solve it There is no mountain too tall he cannot move it. Their is no storm too dark God cannot calm it Their is no sorrow too deep he cannot sooth it. If he carried the weight of the world up on his shoulders I know my brother that he will carry you If he carried the weight of the world up on his shoulders I know my sister that he will carry you He said Come unto me, all who are weary–y And I will give you rest.”
What a powerful and assuring invitation for us to come into God’s presence and receive His rest. Are you tired of carrying your load alone? Are you frightened about the unknown tomorrow? Let me assure you, God dearly loves you. You are accepted by Him. No matter what happens He is powerful to carry you through life’s storms and difficulties. Moses the great leader knew what it was to be carried in the arms of God, so in his fare well speech he said, “The eternal God is a dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deut 33:27. When we come to Him he will pick us up in his loving arms.
II. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEEK GOD?
The word seek appears about 128 times in the Bible and most of the time in reference to either God seeking his people or wanting His people to seek Him. In Hebrew and Greek the word seek has a wide range of meanings, search, looking for, striving, ask, to consult. About 33 times it was used “Inquire” In its verbal form it is not one time seeking, consulting or inquiring but to continually seek. Seeking God means earnestly desiring his presence. (Psalm 63:1) “O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you my body longs for you.” It means longing for his touch in our body and soul.(Isaiah 26:9). It means keeping God first in all we do.
I believe some of the following will accompany the person who seeks God. He recognizes that he is a created being and God is the creator. He replaces the idols of his heart with the true worship of God. He rejects sin and renounces the authority of Satan in his life. He realizes that he can not live apart from God. He releases all his anxiety to God because He cares for him. He relinquishes his rights and say to God “Not my will, but yours be done.” He rests in the fact that God is trustworthy. He reaffirms his confidence in God’s omnipotence. He releases and receives forgiveness. He resists the temptation to run his life alone.
He refuses to believe the lies of the enemy. He relies on God’s provision for all of his needs. He reaches out to God in times of troubles. He refreshes others as he is refreshed in the presence of God, Isaiah 58:6-8. Great men and women of God in the History are known for their heart after God. Is seeking God a delightful thing for you or is it a chore?
How do we practically Seek God? Make time daily to read God’s Word. Unless you make that as a top priority it will not happen. Find a quite place and talk to your father in heaven in prayer. Jesus said, “But when you pray go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will repay you.” Matthew 6:6. There is place for public and corporate prayers in the Church, but Jesus here is encouraging personal and secrete prayer; only between you and God. We need to learn to shut the door to all the distractions such as computers, cell phone, I pods, TV, including children. From time to time set aside a day to seek God possibly away from your home.
Another practical way of Seeking God is bringing our emotional pain to God. We feel emotional pain when we do not get what we want, need, or expect. Many of us are not so good at dealing with our emotional pain. We tend to numb it with all sorts of false comforts or distractions. But when we are seeking God, we bring our emotional pain to him, and tell him how exactly we are feeling and trust that he would heal our hurts and make us whole again.
Let your problems propel you into the presence of God and not to turn you away from God. When we learn to spend time in the presence of God our problems may not necessarily disappear overnight but we are changed and so is our perspective. He may remove your mountain if not He may give you the strength to climb it. Even the great apostle Paul had to settle for the divine paradox. Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9. May we learn to Seek God this year 2011. Amen
