Theologians and philosophers have discussed the so-called “hiddenness of God” problem for centuries. The question of God’s hiddenness or silence is typically discussed in times of trouble and suffering when our felt need for something more tangible is pressing hard on us. Today, I want to look at hearing God and experiencing God. I want to examine what it means to seek God and how we know we have found him.

Let’s begin with a line from one of my favorite Psalms: Psalm 27.

You have said,

Love seeks. I think that is one of the fundamental attributes of love. Love seeks the object of its affection. David loved God and didn’t need to be coerced to seek Him. When God said, “Seek my face,” David was only too happy to oblige. Too often, I have waited until catastrophe strikes to get serious about seeking God’s face. This kind of seeking is not born of our love for God. It is born of desperation that presumes upon the love of God. Thankfully for all of us, God deeply loves us and, like a good parent, has mercy on us even though we never genuinely deserve it. But like a parent, God does desire our love and thanks. Like any loving parent, God would rather we come to Him for the simple joy of being with Him. The most valuable things in my memory are the hugs I received from my granddaughters for no reason at all.

As Psalm 32 tells us:

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you

The Best Time to Seek God

This psalm tells us that there is a time when God can be found. That is the perfect time to pray and seek His face. Those who seek God out of love even when they don’t “need” God (which is a terrible phrase when you think about it) have a hiding place when disaster strikes. For that person, disaster is a time to hide and rest in God because they constantly seek Him. They are prepared for disaster because they have sought and found God on the good days. They don’t imagine God to be a panic button under glass that we only break in an emergency. God is not hidden from those who pray and seek Him when He “may be found,” as the psalmist says. To those who love God, He is the constant focus of their attention.

But that is not even the best part of this relationship. Our seeking will always be limited by human frailties. But God’s seeking has no such limitations. God’s love is faithful even though our’s is often fickle.

Paul describes it this way in Romans 8:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

This Week

The Bible tells us in 1st John that we love God because He first loved us.

We love because he first loved us.

As we seek God this week, we will find Him, and the overflow of his completely undeserved love for us will flow through us to others. We love others not to earn God’s love because we already have that in Jesus. We love others as our worship and thanksgiving to God, who loves us even when we are unlovable. Let’s encourage each other in God as we walk in His love with each other this week.

Have a great week!