"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11
"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7
I planned to make an Asian meal for us the other day, and I looked in the refrigerator for Hoisin Sauce. We buy these big bottles of sauces and marinades for a single recipe, then it just sits in the fridge until the next time. Both Bruce and I love to cook, so over time I have accumulated quite a few “specialty” items that take up so much room! Well, I had to move bottles around in the fridge as I was searching for the Hoisin. Aha! There it is.
Have you ever needed a specific ingredient for a new recipe you’re trying, like the Hoisin Sauce, and you have it on hand but don’t realize it? Perhaps you’ve reached into the cupboard or refrigerator thousands of times reaching for other ingredients, even touching, and moving the Hoisin sauce bottle as you search, but because you weren’t looking for it, you don’t see it. There are things around us we see every single day, but never really see them. We must be actively searching, intentionally seeking it.
What about that car that you’re not familiar with? While driving, your friend points out the new model from XYZ. They ask you, “What do you think of those new XYZ’s.” Your reply is, “It’s cool. I’ve never seen one before.” The truth is that you might have seen it many, many times before, but because you weren’t looking for it, you don’t see it! But now that your friend pointed it out, you see these cars EVERYWHERE! I mean, EVERYWHERE! You can’t escape it.
Or you learn a new word, one you’ve never heard before. Or have you? Now you hear it all the time!
It’s true that we only see what we’re looking for. You can be staring straight at something and not see it. You must actively focus on it and seek it. It dawned on me that it’s the same thing with God. Sometimes we don’t see Him or feel Him because we aren’t looking! He is literally everywhere; we just must look. Look at the perfection of a newborn baby. Look at the wind in the trees. The mountains, the ocean, waterfalls, the sun and moon, the birds gliding in the sky. There is so much beauty and intricacies of life all around us. That is all God.
God is right there… it’s not hard to see Him. We must actively, and continually look for Him. Our focus ought to be on the Lord and His ways always. I want to know He’s here with me always… I only need to look.