Seek and Find

It’s clear I keep my eyes and ears wide open for God-ideas that give me content for my daily blogs. And, that content comes from various places -- a scripture reading, praying, scrolling my social media platforms, something a friend said and in my walks. And you know what? When I seek, I find Him!

In Jeremiah 29:13, God made it clear that He isn’t playing the Hide and Go Seek game. He said: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." I was on purpose to see Him in my early morning walk yesterday. He wasn’t hiding. I found Him immediately when I hit the streets. Of course, He was in the trees, the cool morning breeze, (thanking God for these cool temperatures), and other people walking. He IS everywhere AND He is HERE in my heart. The more that I sensed Him, the more aware and conscious I was of His love, His mercy, grace, and most of all, His presence. That's when I started noticing the greatest symbol of His love -- the cross. I started seeing crosses on the street, on fences, windows, and objects -- thus my photo collage for this day.

The Cross -- of course, when we seek Him, we'll find Him, and this day I found Him where Jesus paid the ultimate price for us with His life. I loved seeing that reminder everywhere I walked. I paid attention to it. I purposefully looked for it. Holding on to that symbol, assures us that everything’s gonna’ be alright!

And, isn't that what this scripture means? "You will seek Me and find Me.....when you seek me with all your heart." He's just a thought away, a prayer away, a cross away, and a heart-beat away. How I thank Him for the cross and how I thank Him for the reminder of His love for me.

My friend posted this beautiful story a few days ago. It fits in well with this conversation:

THE BRIDEGROOM IS PRESENT, BUT NOT SEEN
A disciple once asked the holy one, "Where shall I look for enlightenment?"
"Here!" the holy one said.
"When will it happen?"
"It is happening right now," the holy one said.
"Then why don't I experience it?"
"Because you do not look," the holy one said.
"What should I look for?"
"Nothing," the holy one said. "Just look!"
"Must I look in a special kind of way?"
"No," the holy one said, "the ordinary way will do."
"But don't I always look in an ordinary way?"
"No," the holy one said. "You don't!"
"Why ever not?" the disciple demanded.
"Because to look, you must be here. You're mostly somewhere else."
(Story shared by Sr. Pascaline Coff O.S.B.)

Right here, HERE, He's just a thought away, a prayer away, a cross away, and a heart-beat away. How I thank Him for the cross and how I thank Him for the reminder of His love for you and me. God is here, there and everywhere! Let’s keep our eyes wide open!

God is Good....All the Time. All the Time....God is Good.

Some years ago, the phrase "God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good" became popular. It was given in a call-and-response pattern. Our African Associate Pastor, in his beautiful African accent, begins every message he gives with “God is good!” And, he waits until we reply “All the time!” Then he says “All the time…..” And we reply, “God is good!” He also closes each of his messages with the same words. He is impressing upon us the goodness of God. And, since he came to us about five months ago, we have become more enthused as we raise our voices, with huge smiles on our faces and joyously declare those words. We love it, and we love him! And, you know what? The gooder (that really should be a word) God gets to us!

Yesterday morning I woke up with such gratitude and said “God, you’re so good to me!” Then that phrase came to my mind and as I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline, a friend posted this photo below. The message was coming through, loud and clear. In spite of everything going on in our lives -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- God is so good. It seemed God wanted me to remind us of that today!

I’m sure there are those who roll their eyes when they hear someone say that phrase – especially when they’re going through tough times. And, I’ll be honest with you, there are times when I’m thinking “What’s up with this or that, God?” and then when I say, “God, you're so good all the time", I am putting my faith and trust in Him. No doubt, there are those who look at us hands-waving, Bible-toting, energy-flailing, do-gooders and saying “God is good”, ask their selves “What nut tree did those nuts fall from?” And they may even ask “Why can’t I say that phrase as energetically as they do?”

An old song “Give Thanks” by Don Moen comes to my mind. The chorus goes “Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son." Those words may swirl in people’s heads because they question “How can I give thanks with a grateful heart when I am going through so much turmoil? And, the Holy One? “How could He be holy and allow so much evil and corruption to run rampant in this world we live in?” I can only imagine how hard it must be for those who don’t know God and sense His great love for them that they find it hard to focus on how holy He is, but that doesn’t change the fact that He IS holy. Despite anyone’s doubts, His love endures forever and He is so understanding of all of our human doubts.

May I suggest that those of us who say “God is good all the time” have captured the heart of God and it’s not because of all of His hand-outs to us? Even when we don’t have a grateful heart because things just aren’t going our way, we can still look at the holiness of our God. The fact remains that God loves us all the time despite the doubts we all have from time to time.

Maybe today you’re struggling with giving thanks with a grateful heart, and saying “God is good all the time”, then I urge you to turn your focus on the Holy One. If you’re unable to do that, then just remember that He has given His only Son for us, despite the fact that He knew we would have doubts in His holiness. Go ahead and be human. Be upset about all the bad stuff that is happening in life but remember God’s love for you will never leave you – in fact, it will endure forever. We can all be thankful for that. God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good!

"Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:26