Seek and Find
Marlys Roos, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
You will seek me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
As a toddler, our son wanted to play hide ‘n’ seek every night after dinner. Since he’s an only child, his dad and I were his after-dinner playmates. Most often my husband would count with our son and then clean the kitchen while I hid. As the door into the living room/dining room opened, our son would rush in and start “looking” for me. Early on that meant going to the middle of the room and sitting down. Later, he might find an object of interest or just crawl around the rooms. Sometimes he would go under the furniture to reach me, get stuck, and wail in frustration. Often, I would call his name to remind him he was looking for me.
Most evenings I hid in the same place, but sometimes I even stood in plain view. Still, until he matured and learned how and where to look and had the desire to look, it would take my calling, my bending down to his eye level, or my rescuing him for him to “find” me. Once he understood I was always there waiting for him, he would actively search and call me, then run to me with joy.
This sweet memory, as with so many moments in parenthood, reminds me of truths I’ve learned about my heavenly Father (Matt. 13:13), although God’s call to seek Him is no game. It is eternal life, the pearl of greatest value for which we would give up all (Matt. 13:45-46). Many who speak of the Divine Hiddenness irreverently do see it as a game, one with no winner. Much has been written in the last few decades by unbelievers who claim if God existed and were truly loving, He would reveal Himself in some unquestionable way to all people. The argument is not new. Paul addressed it in Romans 1:20: For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Those who say there is no evidence are like my son when he just plopped on the floor, waiting for me to show myself. However, we are not unlike that. I have often given up as Elijah did (1 Kings 19) and asked for divine revelation, expecting a grand display but receiving instead a subtle and gentle reminder of my Father’s omniscient presence.
Incredible displays of power and glory did not convince all the Egyptians and Israelites of Moses’s day, nor did Christ’s miracles convert all the people of His. Even when He reached down to rescue, unbelief blinded many who witnessed God’s revelations as John summarizes: the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). John explains further why, no matter the revelation, people choose to look elsewhere, preferring darkness to light: For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed (John 3:20).
For the Christian, the call to search made numerous times in Scripture (Deut. 4:29; 1 Chron. 22:19; 1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 15:2, 4; Isa. 55:6; Matt. 6:33) is not because God is lost or derisively teasing us by hiding. Sin hides God from us. He continues to call us to commit and search. He requires us to search—with our whole heart no less—so that we are invested in our relationship with Him.
We know we are helpless and weak and cannot save ourselves, but a passive response to His grace is not acceptable. Perfunctory devotion and half-hearted interest will not draw us near, and attitudes of entitlement do not acknowledge His worthiness. Only when we search with our whole heart and call out His name in faith and love will our eyes be opened to find—in Scripture, in His people, by a “coincidence,” or in Creation—He has been, oh so patiently, waiting for us.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
The call to search comes with the promise: He will be found. And God always keeps His promises! If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13 NASB). I believe, in this case, He cannot deny Himself (or us) the joy of being Father to His children.
PRAYER
Loving and gracious Father, thank You for calling and waiting patiently for us to search for You with our whole hearts. Thank You for the amazing promise that You will be found! My heart runs to You, singing with joy and awe. Amen.
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Sharon W. Betters is the author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.