“Ye shall seek me and find me when ye seek me with all thine heart” (Jeremiah 29:13)
This one sentence says it all.
One of the habits mankind has developed over the years is to deceive ourselves. We try to convince ourselves and, by extension, convince others that the real reason behind our actions are the ones we project on the outside when deep inside, we know the reason is something else altogether.
But we have found a way over the years to silence even the voices of truth within us, feeding ourselves with what we would rather believe.
That said, we seem to tell ourselves we are seeking God for the right reasons, while deep inside, it may not be true.
God is a being that must be sought for Himself, never as a means to an end or a goal, a selfish goal.
To find God, you must want Him, and you must need Him. God never shows himself to anyone who doesn’t need Him because the person will have absolutely no idea what to do with the presence of God or the knowledge of Him, which leads to trying to use God for selfish ambitions.
The man who will find God knows exactly who he is searching for or what he is searching for. He has reached a point in His life when he realises he is helpless and can do nothing for himself. He has seen his depravity as a result, is searching for something superior to him.
Even though he doesn’t know God, this man will find Him because that realisation has created a need and vacuum that only God can fill. Soon enough, such a man will begin to have strange encounters at the end of which he gets filled with the knowledge and presence of God and becomes a powerful instrument In His hands.
On the contrary, that man who, even though he has been hearing about God since childhood, does not realize the helplessness or desire to be filled with God could never encounter God, no matter how loud he prays.
This is because such a man is most likely more interested in what the presence of God in him can do for him, the power and affluence it brings, or how it could make his life easier. He may have, over the years, convinced himself that his reasons are genuine, but God is the God of all knowledge, and by Him, actions are weighed. He sees and knows more about us than we can ever know.
So are you trying to find God? By now, you may have understood why you haven’t been able to find Him, and you may have gotten a hint on what to do.
- First, empty yourself: A man who is filled with himself or with the world cannot be filled with God because he has no room. It would be best if you emptied yourself of ‘self.’ The flesh is deceitful, and its desires corrupt. It makes you believe that you are fine and robs you of every belief in God, replacing it with affinity to and dependence on fleeting things.
- Realise your need for God: The human mind abhors a vacuum. When we empty ourselves, we get the need to be filled by something. The devil will captivate our hearts if we aren’t filled with God. The devil is as interested in the longing heart as God is. So we must long for God to fill us with Himself. And how?
- Commit to studying the Word: You can’t find God anywhere far away from His Word. He is always standing by His Word to perform it. So we must give in to studying the Word of God and going to His presence in the company of other believers to learn more about Him from people who truly know Him and are yet more eager to know Him more. By doing so, God draws closer to us, and soon we will find ourselves basking in His presence every moment of our lives.
- Talk to someone about God: God has made everything for His pleasure, and the more our lives give Him pleasure, the more of Himself He reveals to us. Nothing gives God pleasure more than spreading His Name and Word. Through our lifestyles, words, and service, we must find ways to sprinkle the goodness of God in all our environments.
When we do all these, gradually or spontaneously, we will begin to see the presence of God in our lives, for then He will come to us.
