Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Seeking God: The Whys and Whats

I've been contemplating the whole, "Seeking God" series for a bit now, wondering how I should continue. My main dilemma comes to this: Do I discuss the "how to" aspect first, or the "why"? Which is truly more important?
I considered doing the manual bit initially. Mainly because I have an idea of what I am going to say and how I want to present it. And also, I figured if you were seriously reading a blog titled "Seeking God", then maybe you already were, and didn't want to know why, but just how.

But isn't why just as important a question? Why should we seek God? Why do we? And yet, an even more relevant question remains to be uncovered. What? Exactly.
What does it mean to seek God? It's easy to sit here and recommend doing it, but what, exactly, does it entail? Is God lost? Why does He need to be found?
Let's define seek, shall we? American Heritage Dictionary defines it as such:
1. To try to locate or discover; search for.
2. To endeavor to obtain or reach
3. To go to or toward
4. To inquire for; request
5. To try; endeavor

But how do these definitions relate to seeking God? In order to answer this, let's take a look at Scripture.
Deuteronomy 4:29, which is the first reference to seeking God that I could find, goes like this:
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."
So, if from there…which in context for the Israelites was in the middle of their sin and a captivity, applying to us as well…we will search for, endeavor to obtain, to go to or toward, inquire for God, we'll find Him if we look for Him with all that we are.

I liked the example the AHD used for number 3. It said, "Water seeks its own level." It goes to it. I think that is what seeking means in relation to God.
He isn't lost. And it isn't as if He hasn't told us over and over where He is so that we may know where to find Him. But we have to move toward Him, and away from the things that are crowding Him out of our lives.

Let's take a closer look at Deuteronomy 4:26-31.
This is a little speech Moses gave to the Israelites. He's telling them exactly what they'll do in the time to come. Once they got settled and secured in the Promise Land, they'd get lazy. They'd forget who got them where they were, why they were there, and all of that. They'd look around at their neighbors and think, "Hey, these guys have it pretty good. They don't have to follow a bunch of rules. They do want they want, when they want. Their gods are small, and portable, less demanding. Plus, I can see them, and understand them."

So then the Israelites would take their eyes off of God, and start pursuing those idols. And once that happened, they would lose the protection of the Lord. They'd be carted off, captured and enslaved. And then, when they were desperate and lost, when they could find no solace in the false gods they flirted with, they'd call out to the one True God, and He'd still be there, because that's just how He rolls.

I think that this is relative to our times. To us. We get so caught up in the idols of our days, what are neighbors are doing, what looks fun, and we lose sight of God. We get pulled away. We may have fun for awhile. Things may go better good, but when tragedy strikes, when life goes wrong, those idols won't help us anymore. When you are hurting and lost and torn, money doesn't satisfy. Material possessions just don't do the trick. But if we'll turn away from those things, and turn back to God, start going toward Him again, we'll find Him, and He'll lift us up.

That's why we should seek Him. Aside from the fact that Scripture tells us we should. We need God. Nothing else will ever satisfy the way He will. We are designed to be fulfilled by Him. There really is no substitute.
And that's why I'm writing this series. Because we...because I...need to start seeking God. And we, you and I, need to know how. We need to know what it looks like.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Seeking God: The Prelude

“There are none who seek God, no not one.” That’s what we are told in Romans 3. And yet, we find ourselves over and over again doing just that very thing. And Scripture encourages us to do so. Where is the discrepancy? Is Scripture contradictory? I don’t think so. We just have to evaluate this in light of the whole Word of God.

Is it true that no one seeks God? Absolutely! If left to our own devices, we would rather find our own way. God shows us how very flawed we are. How often do we find ourselves hating those people who possess the traits we lack, and desire to have? On our own, we would rather find dark places to hide and grub through existence rather than be exposed for who we are by God’s light.

But is it not true also that people do seek God? Don’t we often begin quests to fill that awful hole inside of us? How can both be true?
The answer is simple. We cannot, or will not, seek God on our own. But we will begin to search when He calls us. And call us He does.

Jesus said Himself that no one can come to Him unless the Father calls them. (John 6:44) Paul told the Athenians that God gave men life and moved throughout history so that we would seek and find Him. (Acts 17: 24-27) And in Romans 1, Paul says God reveals Himself through creation so that none of us may have excuse.

The whole Bible is filled with passages of God reaching out toward man. We never initiate it. He does. And yet, He wants us to find Him. Or rather, He wants us to look.

It’s as if God has set out a trail of breadcrumbs for us. All we have to do is follow it, and we will see Him, hiding in plain sight. He wants us to seek Him, me…you.

Why? How? What does that even look like? All of those are perfectly understandable questions. And, I’m going to try to explain them as best as I’m able. I’m going to use the Bible and a little bit of logic. Psalm 63 will be my model. Please read it. Seek with me. Ask questions. Add insights. Travel with me on this pilgrimage to seek the One True God. He’s calling. Won’t you come?