Found
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.
Psalm 23:6a
Often when people begin a relationship with God they are said to have “found” Him. That irks me a little. The idea that the God of the universe is so often lost. Does He wander about like some poor demented soul? No! God is not lost. God does not get lost, even when we in our anger or ignorance tell Him to do just that. God is never lost in the literal sense but He can be lost to us.
Doing a study of the 23rd Psalm I spent a lot of time with the words, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” God is love and love will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me? No wonder He gets lost so often! That doesn’t really make sense because the earlier part of the same psalm says He will lead me. Which only makes sense because oh, right, He’s God.
He leads us, follows us and walks beside us. We are literally surrounded by God. (Psalm 139:5-12) So then, why do people have to find Him? Why are there verses in the Bible that tell us to “seek” God, as if He were an elusive being? Unfortunately the answer is that one we hate to talk about, sin. It is because of our sin, sin that crowds out the beauty of God in our lives that we have to seek God to “find” Him. He is not lost. We are.
God always knows right where we are. He does not have to search for us but He does have to wait for us. He beckons. He pursues. He invites. And then He waits, while we spin in circles looking for happiness, looking for comfort, looking for peace before eventually realizing our need for a Savior.
While I will never be a fan of the phrase, “She found God.” I see that it might not always be as inane as it sounds. Of course we all have to be prepared to lose ourselves in the process. We have to abandon what we believed to be important to embrace the essential. God is not lost, ever but He is eager to be “found.”
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.
Psalm 23:6a
Often when people begin a relationship with God they are said to have “found” Him. That irks me a little. The idea that the God of the universe is so often lost. Does He wander about like some poor demented soul? No! God is not lost. God does not get lost, even when we in our anger or ignorance tell Him to do just that. God is never lost in the literal sense but He can be lost to us.
Doing a study of the 23rd Psalm I spent a lot of time with the words, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” God is love and love will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me all the days of my life. God will follow me? No wonder He gets lost so often! That doesn’t really make sense because the earlier part of the same psalm says He will lead me. Which only makes sense because oh, right, He’s God.
He leads us, follows us and walks beside us. We are literally surrounded by God. (Psalm 139:5-12) So then, why do people have to find Him? Why are there verses in the Bible that tell us to “seek” God, as if He were an elusive being? Unfortunately the answer is that one we hate to talk about, sin. It is because of our sin, sin that crowds out the beauty of God in our lives that we have to seek God to “find” Him. He is not lost. We are.
God always knows right where we are. He does not have to search for us but He does have to wait for us. He beckons. He pursues. He invites. And then He waits, while we spin in circles looking for happiness, looking for comfort, looking for peace before eventually realizing our need for a Savior.
While I will never be a fan of the phrase, “She found God.” I see that it might not always be as inane as it sounds. Of course we all have to be prepared to lose ourselves in the process. We have to abandon what we believed to be important to embrace the essential. God is not lost, ever but He is eager to be “found.”
Since we spend a lot of time Hiding from God, maybe the correct phrase would be "I Let God find me." God always knows where we are, even if we don't want him to. And even at that He still loves us.
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