My young grandson likes to play the game called “Hide and Seek”. He’ll go and hide somewhere and I’m supposed to search until I find him. Except he tells me where he’s going to hide before he runs off so I don’t have to look very hard.
One time we were playing and my grandson told me where he was going, then off he went. I got caught up in conversation with someone and forgot about the game. A few minutes later he returned, disappointed that I hadn’t gone to find him. He wanted to be found!
Have you ever thought that God is this distant being that’s all about rules and judgment? Some faraway entity who has no interest in a real connection with us?
That thought couldn’t be more wrong!
Our God, the God of the universe, maker of Heaven and Earth, wants nothing more than to be intimately connected with us, His creation. Let that soak in a minute. He desires a personal relationship with each one of us.
He wants us to find him, just like my grandson in “Hide and Seek”. And, just like my grandson, He even tells us where He can be found so we don’t have to look very hard.
So, when we’re ready to seek God, here are some ways to start:
Seek God Sincerely Through Faith
We need to leap the hurdle that keeps us from really believing God is there. That’s a tough one for some people. But without that first step, it’s like playing hide and seek with someone who doesn’t exist.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalms 145:18 NIV
Seek God With Your Whole Heart
We need to actually search. God is there wanting us to find him, but if we get caught up in other things and don’t make seeking Him a priority, we will miss out.
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 NIV
Seek God Humbly
He wants us to come to Him in all humility, admitting that He is God and we are not.
In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” Psalms 10:4 NLT
Seek God Through Prayer
Call out to Him in prayer and He will hear you and reveal Himself to you.
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Deuteronomy 4:7 NIV
Seek God through the Direction and Illumination of the Holy Spirit
“I know the Lord is speaking to me personally when I read my Bible and a particular verse or passage seems illuminated – it just lifts up off the page, and I seem to hear a gentle, inaudible whisper as I have an ‘aha moment’ in my heart.” Anne Graham Lotz
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26 NLT
So, the next time God seems distant, let’s remember that He tells us where He is, and He wants to be found.
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord , do I seek.” Psalm 27:8
