For quite some time, I felt pretty darn comfortable with my Sunday School understanding of God. People who lived thousands of years ago put their trust in God and God came through for them – that’s great! Then there are the stories of those same people slipping up and were denied the Promised Land, were exiled, their babies died, were swallowed by a big fish, and so many other terrible fates. Look at the very first 2 people – they messed up once and doomed everyone! I was comfortable – for a time – with this basic concept of who God seemed to be. But we’re not called to be comfortable in a limited 2nd and 3rd (even 4th) hand knowledge. We’re called to seek God.
Because of those stories of people who trusted God but slipped up and made bad choices – they sure did suffer – I wasn’t interested in seeking God. I mean, let’s be real: I can slip up on my own just fine without going through the work of seeking God only to be punished later. This was the attitude I had before I started to understand God’s true nature. Once I recognized that His heart was for giving grace – even at the extreme cost of His Son – seeking Him has become something I look forward to and enjoy.
It’s amazing how seeking God can impact your life. Not just your overall existence, but your day-to-day goings on. I used to go through tough stuff that life would throw at me and start praying, but now I face those tough things and find they aren’t so tough because I’m always praying. I don’t face the last-minute rescue because I’m not trying to get back in His hands, I’m already there. There are circumstances that are always ready to bury me, but I’m not under them. I’ve said before how I’m well aware that life is not all sunshine and rainbows.
Everyone faces tough things in this world. It’s fallen, remember? We’ve been in the market for a house for more than 2 years, but each door seems to close on us. I have two additional children’s books, fully illustrated by an amazing artist (no, not me – I can’t even draw stick figures well), but no literary agent seems interested or in the market for them. Business start-up takes time and money. Children, also take time and money. We’ve lost loved ones and celebrated births. We’ve fostered struggling teens that came from a bad situation. Under the circumstances, life can be tough – but God’s called us to be above our circumstances.
Rick Warren once wrote that faith is facing the facts without being discouraged by them. We all come upon obstacles, face problems, and go through troubling times, and we’re not supposed to deny that they’re happening. But we are supposed to deny that they hold any power over us.
When an offer on a house is not accepted or someone outbids us, I trust that God has the perfect home for us, and He was simply protecting us. When I get a rejection from a potential literary agent, I’m bummed, but I know that God’s timing is perfect. If God plants the desire, the dream, the aspiration – whichever word you choose – if He’s placed it in your heart, He’s not going to leave you hanging with getting there. God will always make a way for the path He has for your life.
We can either be busy worrying about finding and affording a home, finding a publisher, the rising costs of, well, everything in this economy, reliable vehicles, clothing and shoeing our ever-growing children, finding and having work, and any number of things that come up… or we can seek God and find a peace that surpasses reason. Do you worry or do you worship? Do you pout or do you praise? Do you grumble or do you express gratitude? Do you panic or do you pray?
When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, after they had witnessed God being with them at every turn and in every circumstance, they often desired a life of being a slave rather than the risk of trusting God for freedom. They worried, they spent a lot of time pouting and grumbling, and when they were trapped by the Pharoah’s army at the edge of the Red Sea, they panicked.
God told them that He had a home for them, one that had cities they didn’t build, homes they didn’t stock, wells they didn’t dig, and they would eat food from crops they didn’t plant (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)… and they chose to not trust Him. They remained focused on their problems instead of putting their focus on their problem-solver. They focused so intently on the problems of the day that they forgot the miracles of the day before. You would think that the Red Sea crossing would be hard to forget.
When we focus on what God can do instead of what we can’t do, we’ll find that we’re not listening to the lies of the devil. The devil will play the shame game until we’re in the fetal position on the floor with our thumb in our mouth. He doesn’t want us seeking God because he knows God’s power. Do we?
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB
God is able to do beyond abundantly, infinitely more than mere abundance for all that we ask, think or can imagine… according to our own power? Nope! It’s according to the power that works within us. This word, power, is translated from the Greek word dynamin (also dunamis). Sounds like dynamite and rightly so. It’s translated to mean miraculous force, ability, abundance, might, power, strength, and even violence. In this verse specifically, it’s referring to the great power of God.
And it’s inside us.
With this power at work inside me, why would I get bent out of shape when things don’t go the way I think they should? If I’m keeping my focus on Him, things are going to go the way they should. His timing is perfect. His plans are perfect. And His plans are perfectly timed.
I’m not in denial of what’s going on in the economy, the housing market, the changes in the world of publishing, teens who are facing a tough future, or the potential pitfalls of running a small business, but I’m choosing to worship Him instead of worrying about things that God is well aware of. When I seek God through reading His Word, in praise and worship, and simply conversing with Him, He elevates me above the cares of this world. I find that I’m not telling people I’m doing well under the circumstances, because I’m not under any circumstance.
God tried to show the Israelites how to live above their circumstances, but they chose to focus on them instead of God’s power. He repeatedly changed their circumstances – He healed them and freed them from slavery, He parted the Red Sea, provided food and water, and even provided a future for them – but they refused to be changed. They grumbled and complained. They rejected a relationship with God. They sought a taskmaster instead of a Father. But like them, we’re called for more.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.” Matthew 6:25, 33 NASB
We’re called to seek Him. We’re called to seek His kingdom. We’re called to seek His righteousness (not my righteousness). We’re called to daily operate in His dynamite power. This is why we can take a stand against any weapon that’s been formed against us, and we’ll be the victorious ones (Isaiah 54:17). Circumstances can often feel like weapons, can’t they?
If we seek Him, we will find Him – if we call out to Him, He will answer us. (Luke 11:9-10). The Bible promises that anyone who seeks Him will lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). I challenge you to open your Bible and read. I challenge you to turn off Netflix and turn on a Bible-based preacher or a worship playlist. I challenge you to seek God instead of seeking economic, political, and social updates. I challenge you to live above your circumstances and not under them. I challenge you to face the facts of what’s happening without fearing them.
I promise that you’ll never regret seeking God.
If you would like my go-to praise and worship playlist or recommendations for pastors that I have found that preach the Word of God, please feel free to email me at ohblessitgrace@gmail.com