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I left for the Race with the thought that I would get to see Jesus in new and astonishing ways all around the world. I for sure wasn’t wrong. I already knew the truth of the Lord’s omnipresence, but outside of my little bubble I hadn’t necessarily seen it. Well now I’ve seen it in 7 different countries.
What I have learned is, it’s not about where we seek him, it’s just about seeking him. That’s it. You don’t have to go around the planet to do it because he is literally everywhere and in everything at all times.
“one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
??Ephesians? ?4:6? ?
If I believe that to be true, the decision to see him is in my hands. This verse in Ephesians makes the Lord’s promise in Jeremiah 29:14 even more valid (peep my blog from South Africa about this verse). He says he will be found by us if we seek him.
If scripture also says that he is over everything, through everything, and in everything then I believe that as long as I am willing to say yes to him and seek him, no matter where I am or what my circumstances are, he’s going to show up.
The Message version of Jeremiah 29:13-14 says “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”
To me that reads as a craving, longing, or desire to see the Lord.
I believe that I was called to do the Race. There has been so much on this trip that the Lord has taught me through specific experiences and interactions. I know I wouldn’t have grown and learned as much as I have in these last 7 months if I wasn’t doing this. That’s not to say those lessons and growth wouldn’t have happened outside of an opportunity like the Race. But they wouldn’t have happened in the same way or time frame.
My perspective on seeking the Father has been transformed. Maybe, without even knowing it, I thought that when the Lord says “I will be found by you” it was preceded by “I’m hidden in different places, come search for me… and I will be found by you.”
That’s not it though. Seeking and searching are different words that it seems we may need to separate and not use interchangeably.
To me, when we search for something, it’s not readily available. I think of Sherlock Holmes searching for clues in unknown places or those people on Netflix documentaries that wander the woods and search for Big Foot or Sasquatch. They don’t really know what they’re looking for or where to find it, they’re just searching until they come upon something.
When we seek something, though, I feel like we’re looking to gain something we’ve finally realized we really want, something we crave. We often seek knowledge or skills, things we’ve always known existed and know exactly where to find them. They were never hidden or out of sight, we just have to choose to seek them out to acquire them. My squad mate said “when you seek something, you desire it. It’s more than an ‘I lost my car keys’ feeling.”
We search hoping to find.
We seek in order to find.
When I go home, I want to seek the Lord as earnestly as I have learned to do while I’ve been traveling. He’s not hiding or sneaking around to places difficult to see. I’m realizing I may have thought that’s what it was like without even knowing it.
But the Lord is good and has transformed that thought for me. He’s right there, arms open wide like the father of the prodigal son. We know right where he is, Ephesians says it loud and clear.
