God's Life Plan預覽

DAY THREE

The Second “S”- Seek

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:24-27

Living this life for God could be compared to a treasure hunt. God loves it when we earnestly seek Him. He is not a God of confusion, but He can oftentimes seem mysterious. This forces us to seek Him more, trying to understand what He wants us to know.

This starts with opening our hearts and our hands to whatever He wants to show us. Then, He has given us pathways to understanding His plans. First, we must seek Him in his Word. I believe the words in the Bible are divinely inspired and are full of power. In John 1, Jesus is referred to as “The Word” and as I’ve studied the Bible for 26 years, I see Jesus and his Spirit through the Old Testament and the New Testament. Anytime someone tells me they don’t need the Old Testament, I think of Jesus saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) There are many things we may not fully understand in the Bible, from the Levitical laws which seem out of context for our culture, or the story of a man surviving being swallowed by a whale, to Jesus saying to eat His body and drink His flesh. This is where faith comes in. In the last example, many people who were following Jesus turned away from Him. Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave, too, but they said, “Where else would we go?”

Just because we don’t understand something in the Bible, does not mean it’s not true.

We also seek Him in prayer. How amazing that the God of the universe wants to spend time with us. He wants to hear our hearts, even our fears and our frustrations, but also our praises and thanksgivings. He wants a relationship with us, which means He wants to talk with us. And it is a conversation, which means we must listen as much or more than we talk.

We seek Him in fellowship with other believers. He calls us the “Body of Christ”, which means we need each other to function properly. Someone else in the body of Christ may hold the piece you are missing as you put together the puzzle of your life. He never intended for us to figure things out on our own. It is so refreshing to be with other believers who are surrendered and are seeking His will for their lives. It reminds me of how people from different countries came and settled in New York City, then found others from their home countries who spoke their language and understood their cultures, and from there created communities. Similarly, there are fellow believers who are “our people” who get us and this life we are trying to live for God.

God’s plan and will for our life is a treasure, but this treasure wants to be found.