Seeking and Finding God

 In some religions, the infinite God is so remote, that He becomes an abstraction, or a frightening judge.

Human nature longs for a personal spiritual experience. We long for relationships, not only at a physical and emotional level but also spiritually, so religion leads us to venerate angels, saints, gods, goddesses or to submit unconditionally to spirit guides, gurus, rabbis, priests or pastors.

But the God of the Bible is infinitely great but also intensely personal. He makes Himself small, so we can know Him and love Him personally.

Perhaps you are not sure if you believe in God, or you are confused about what God might be like.

Try talking to God personally. You have nothing to lose.

You can say, as some atheists or agnostics have done. “God, if you are real, please let me find you.”

In the bible, many Jews were confused about religion. Many prayed to the gods of other nations. The results were terrible.

But God spoke to the Prophet Jeremiah.

Call to me, and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jer 33:3 NRSVue

You can talk to God and if you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jer 29:11–13 NKJV

Seeking God in the Darkness

 God sees your suffering and your distress, and it distresses Him. He wants to comfort you.

God sees your need and wants to help you.

God sees you being overwhelmed by the expectations of your family, your employer or your church, and he wants to give you new strength and wisdom. Not all of the duties that are imposed on you are from God.

You silently cry out in your heart, "Where is God?" But God is there, and He wants to open the eyes of your heart so that you can see His love.

Can you hear the silent voice of God?

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Rev 3:20 NIV

You are told to read your Bible, but the letters are cold and dead to you. God wants to awaken your spirit.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Mt 7:7–11 NIV

Please don't give up. God's heart beats for you. Is God hidden from you? If God is hidden, it is not so that you won't find him, but so that you will seek him and find him.

Finding your Way to Faith

 Preachers often talk about faith. They didn't invent it. It was a favourite topic of Jesus himself.

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Jn 6:28–29 NIV

For Paul, faith was just as important.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Eph 2:8–9 NLT

Maybe you have a longing for God, but you look into your own heart and you see doubt. You see uncertainty. You have questions, but you may not be satisfied with the answers you hear.

In some Church meetings, rituals are offered to guarantee salvation.  

Many are baptised but do not experience new life.
Many say a prayer of commitment, but afterwards they remain uncertain and inwardly unchanged.

You cannot deceive God. He understands your thoughts from afar. Even if you try to deceive yourself, God loves you as you really are. He wants to create a new life in you, not an outward form of religion.

Jesus explained the way that is necessary for many.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NLT

Before the war, a young Jew lived in Romania.
He was an atheist, but his worldview gave him no comfort.

One day he saw an old Orthodox church and he stepped inside. He saw old people kneeling before an old man. He didn't believe, but he felt the emptiness in his soul.
 
He began to pray.
 
``God. I maintain that you do not exist. But if you do exist, I am not obliged to believe in you. It is your duty to reveal yourself to me.
 
Later he went to the countryside. He was poor and he walked. The sun was setting and he sought shelter in a village.
 
There lived a deeply devout Christian who had been praying to the Lord for years to win a Jew for Jesus.

The young Jewish atheist was warmly welcomed. The host gave him a Bible. When he read the words of Jesus, flames of love were kindled in his heart.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 NRSV

From that day on, his life was completely new. Jesus was his best friend and faithful companion in life.

It is better to talk to God yourself, to speak the thoughts of your heart openly, than to say some formulaic prayer.

You can also pray sincerely:

‘If this message is indeed true, come into my life and change my heart and soul. I don't have a firm faith, but I want to believe if you really are as the Bible says.’

God's Answer to Confusion

 Lana Vawser. Do not doubt.
I HEARD THE LORD SAY “DON’T DOUBT WHAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU”

"Recently the Lord showed me that there are many in the body of Christ who have been assaulted by a very intense spirit of ‘confusion’ of late.

It has caused many to feel like they have been thrown into a ‘haze’ and clarity that the Lord had given was now suddenly feeling overshadowed by a strong feeling of ‘did God really say that?’"

https://lanavawser.com/2021/04/01/i-heard-the-lord-say-dont-doubt-what-i-have-spoken-to-you/

I have often experienced this confusion and insecurity as a Christian.

I was in a church for a while where disputes had been tearing the church apart for years. A new pastor was at the helm. He was a strong personality and could preach well, but I still felt no peace and freedom in the Spirit.

This congregation used to be strong in spirit, but through human strife, the very good pastor was pushed out. This rebellion was not from God. Little by little, everything went down the drain.

When human strife wrecks a church, demonic spirits are always behind it.

The devil has different strategies to ruin a church. It can be a rebellion against good leadership.

The enemy can also sometimes lead the leaders astray through sin, for example when pastors get involved in pornography addiction or greed for money, or become proud and want to control everything.

What do Christians experience in such churches? Often confusion and insecurity.

If you are in such a church, how can you find God's way for your life again?

Go back to Jesus! Jesus is your pastor, the Good Shepherd.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 NKJV

Where can you find this close connection with your heavenly pastor?

• You can read your favourite passages in the Bible over and over again.

• You can seek the presence of God intensely in your private prayer time.

• You can re-read Christian books which have inspired you.

• You can spend time with good Christian friends, friends who are not in your church.

• You can attend good Christian conferences or other churches.

Maybe you are not in a church, but you feel a deep spiritual need. You need to find God, but you are disappointed with churches and many Christians.

God is still God and He is good.

What does God say in the Bible?

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NIV84

What did Jesus say?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NASB95

IN SEARCH OF THE REAL JESUS

Supposing you never heard of Jesus and you found a New Testament. 
Suppose you read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for the first time. 

• What would you think of Jesus?

• What kind of person do you think you discover?

He spent three years preaching in Israel. Everywhere he went, his words had a dramatic impact, winning love and trust from some and provoking murderous hatred from religious leaders.

He spoke words of wisdom which are admired by people of all faiths.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 

• For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV) 

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you... Matthew 7:12 (NIV)  

Jesus did not put great value on religious hierarchies, status or position. 

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 

And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Mt 23:8-9 (NIV)

He Himself was the most powerful preacher in his generation but he never sought a position for himself.

Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him their king, 

so he went higher into the mountains alone. John 6:15 (TLB) 

Jesus taught and practised humility and modesty.

(Jesus) called a little child and had him stand among them.

• And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

• Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4 (NIV)

The life of Jesus also demonstrated humility.

• He was born in a stable surrounded by farm animals. 

• He worked as a village carpenter until he was 30.

• He preached in public places and on hillsides and he was never ordained by the religious authorities.

• He provoked persecution by religious leaders because he was openly friendly with social outcasts, corrupt tax collectors and women of bad reputation.

WHAT DID THIS HUMBLE PREACHER SAY ABOUT HIMSELF?

Now the story becomes really strange.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

• for I am gentle and humble in heart, 
• and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV) 

• Jesus is a humble man who says he is humble. This is strange.

• Jesus is also a humble man who claims to be able to give peace to everyone who trusts him. This is really a bold claim.

What else did Jesus say?

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV) 

• He claims to be divine. He claims that no one can come to God except through him.

How can a man be humble and say he is humble?How can a man be humble and say he is divine?

Then he goes further.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. John 5:21 (NIV) 

• He claims to be the Son of God who has unlimited power to give life to human beings. 

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, John 5:22 (NIV) 

• He says he is the divine judge of all mankind.

Later he said something which made the Jews want to kill him because he was claiming to be the eternal God.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58 (NIV)

• Either Jesus was a madman, a fraud or else he was who he said he was, GOD.

• He cannot be just a great teacher.

WHAT IS GOD REALLY LIKE?

What is God really like? 

We can so easily get confused about this. 

• You look at your life and you match what you see against the high standards of religious virtue. You start to think of God as a fearsome judge and you hide from Him.

• Or you look around and you think, if there is a God, how could he be good, to make a world so full of cruelty and suffering?

• Or you look away from humanity in horror and see the glory and beauty of nature, so you long to be in harmony with the mysterious spiritual essence permeating all that beauty. 

• Love and relationships always disappoint you, so you despair of finding a personal God. Often people let you down and sometimes the church that preaches a personal God is no better, sometimes but not always.

With the limitations of our faulty human nature, there is no way out of this confused mess.

As children we enjoyed the love of our mother and father, or if not we longed to have such a love. We heard stories where people lived happily ever after and we wanted them to be true.

There is no way out and no way home to the dreams of our childhood.

But as I grew older, I found there were at least some people who had found love and peace and a heavenly hope that was not just shallow religion. Of course I was confused and disappointed by much of what I saw in Christian churches but I longed for something better. 

• I didn’t find it in the worship of natural beauty or in yoga or poetry. I didn’t find it in psychology or religion.

I found it in the lives of some people who followed Jesus. 

They were full of love and they accepted me. When I was with them, I felt a warm glow like an aura, a spiritual fragrance in the atmosphere. 
I felt a spiritual presence far warmer and sweeter and more comforting than the spiritual atmosphere around New Age people. There was a comfort that was real and inviting far better than anything I had ever known.

• 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV)    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 

  • who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.