By Dennis Edwards:
Many people go through life aimlessly. Never finding what they are looking for. If they only had taken time in the Word of God they might have found the answer. The Lord said to Jeremiah, "You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall seek for Me with all your heart."(Jeremiah 29:13) Jesus said on the famous Sermon on the Mount, "They that hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) He also said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find and knock and it shall be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7,8) In Jeremiah we find the promise,"Call on me. I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)
So we see there needs to be a spiritual seeking on our part, a desperation of heart, mind and spirit in order for us to enter into the spiritual realm to touch the heart of God and hear His answers. The enemy of our soul and spirit would like to keep us distracted and occupied only in the physical plane to thwart any attempt of ours to seek for the Almighty. It seems that unless there is some outside catalyst, many people never seek for the answers to life. They travel through life enjoying the sights and sounds and struggling through their difficulties, until one day they get hit by a tragedy which they are unable to surmount in their own strength. It may be a sickness, an accident, a divorce or loss of a loved one. It may be the possibility of death in war or by sickness that finally awakes that spiritual hunger inside and causes them to seek God desperately. God has promised that if we seek for Him, we will find Him. He is there.
We can even see Him so clearly in the beauty of nature. He has said in His word,
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day do they speak and night unto night do they show forth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." (Psalm 19:1-3)
Have you ever looked up into the sky in the day and seen the beautiful blue heavens with white clouds whisking by. Or at sunset, sat and watched the magnificent colors, and breathed a deep breath and felt comforted. Or walked by the beach and felt reassured that everything was going to be alright and work out alright in the end. The sea can have that sort of tranquilizing affect. That is why we rush to get away for the weekend to some quiet spot. It even might be playing golf, or fishing, or walking the dog in the park or running along the beach, or picnicking along a river or lake. Nature seems to impart some comforting influence upon us.
Have you ever looked up at night and seen the starry sky and that problem you were worrying about, just did not seem so large after all? Like when William Jennings Bryan, who was running for the President of the United States said after looking up into the night sky through a telescope, "I guess it does not really matter who wins the election after all." He was so reassured that even if everything looks impossible here in our little world, nevertheless God is there and ultimately He will work things out in the end." Abraham Lincoln is credited of saying "I can understand how someone could look down from heaven at our mess of a world and say there is no God, but I can not understand how any one could look up into a beautiful night sky and say that God does not exist."
God speaks to us through the things of His creation. As Paul has said in his letter to the Romans.
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)
Job in the Bible says this,
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto you. Who knows not in all these that the hand of the Lord has wrought this?In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. Do not the ear try words? and the mouth meat?...With Him is wisdom and strength. He has counsel and understanding." (Job 12:7-13)
So, if we will listen, He can speak to us through nature. But we will need to get alone in some quiet spot to listen. We will need to open our spiritual eyes and ears and seek His leading and guiding desperately. He will speak in that still small voice in our heart, the voice of conscience.
The Bible is full of the recordings of men and women of God who heard his voice and followed his leading. You can read them and find comfort, wisdom and guidance for your own. You can read the words of Jesus in the Gospels in the New Testament in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. You can hear from the early followers of Jesus in the epistles. Or read the prayers and songs of David in the Psalms. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are full of the wisdom of King Solomon and Job shows forth his wisdom in his own book.
Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "To read the Bible is to take a trip to a fair land where the spirit is strengthened and faith renewed." So, if you have not found God, seek for Him, he is not far from us. As Paul has said,
"That they should seek the Lord, if they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." ( l Corinthians 17:27)
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