to be seekers
We are asking to be God chasers, to be placed in the position where we are to seek Him out. We are asking to be active pursuers in this relationship looking for Him in the places he normally resides, looking at his tracks, hoping for a true encounter. It is more than just asking God to show Himself to us, or to give us revelation of who He is; it is about seeking Him with all of our hearts, all of our energy and resources, with a desire to meet Him. To “seek God with all of our hearts” is about desire, a hungry desire where we need to know Him, and we need to meet Him. To be aware of a hunger and need for more of God is a great place to be; Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). It is this hungry desire that moves God’s heart to reveal Himself to us. To seek with all our hearts means that our need to know him exceeds our need for things to remain the same or for things to remain stable or comfortable. When our need to know Him exceeds our need to not know Him (as a result of all that it may require of us), is when we are seeking Him with all of our hearts. God makes this promise to those who seek Him all out: “I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.
This pursuit, however, is not one where we need to strain and strive with all of our strength. When we remember that we are first God’s portion and that He is the ultimate pursuer, our pursuit of God can melt our hearts. Tommy Tenney describes the pursuit and the prospect of actually catching Him this way:
That’s an interest phrase, isn’t it? Catching Him. Really, it’s an impossible phrase. We can no more catch Him than the east can catch the west; they’re too far removed from each other. It’s like playing chase with my daughter. Often as she arrives home from a day of school, we play this little game that countless fathers and children play around the world. When she comes and tries to catch me, even with my hulking frame, I really don’t have to run. I just artfully dodge this way and then that, and she can’t even touch me, because a little child can’t catch an adult. But that’s not really the purpose of the game, because a few minutes into it, she laughingly says, “Oh daddy,” and it’s at that moment that she captures my heart. Suddenly I turn and she’s no longer chasing me, but I’m chasing her, and I catch her and we tumble in the grass with hugs and kisses. The pursuer becomes the pursued. So can we catch Him? Not really, but we can catch His heart. David did. And if we catch His heart, then He turns and chases us. That’s the beauty of being a God chaser. You’re chasing the impossible, knowing it’s possible.
I’ve had my own experiences of the pursuer becoming the pursued. During my first morning in Mongolia on a short-term mission trip. It was the summer after I graduated college, and I decided that I may not have many more opportunities to go overseas for missions once I entered the working world. Even as I was training to go, I had been feeling some distance from God, and that morning I was really hungry to connect with Him in a meaningful way. I started my pursuit like a runner, gearing up my Bible, my notebook, and my pen. I got up early and tried to devour and soak in all of the wisdom of my selected Bible passage. But for some reason, my prayers and my reading did not draw me into a place where I felt truly connected with God.
As I gave up on my pursuit, about 12 students of the Christian school I was staying with came into the room and began their group devotion time. As they began with a song that had the same melody as the songs I used to sing in Sunday school, only the lyrics were in Mongolian, I was touched by God’s pursuit of me. As the praise songs filled the room, I encountered God through their songs and praises. As I reflected on how my attitude of a runner, chasing God with all of my strength, actually seemed to draw me away from God’s presence, I realized that the pursuit of God Himself oftentimes is when we cease striving. Be still and know that He is God.
Observation - Do you prefer to be the seeker or the one sought after?
Understanding - How do you feel about being put in the place of the seeker?
Application - How can I seek God today?
