Seeking the Lord: A Call to wholehearted Pursuit

Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” It is a powerful passage urging each of us to seek the Lord in a spirit of desperation. No one is exempt from the need to seek God, although regrettably, not everyone will choose to do so.

Seeking the Lord

When it comes to a call to seek the Lord, we often find ourselves in one of two roles: either participants actively seeking God or observers watching others seek Him. Those who seek God approach Him with worship, praise, intercession, petition, and confession. Their lives are marked by doing so seriously, passionately, humbly, and desperately. But some merely observe, restrained by fear of judgment, fear of what the Lord would ask and the potential life changes it would mean, or the assumption that there's always tomorrow and someday they will seek HIm.

Some may even ask, “If God is always present, why do I need to seek Him?” Herein lies our need to understand the constant but not always perceived presence of God.

Understanding God's Presence

While God is omnipresent, there are seasons we neglect Him. The result is we become less aware of His presence. He is always near and always present, but we can become spiritually dull and insensitive to His presence. The Bible gives us a great counter to this in Psalm 105:4 "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always..”

Seeking cannot be a one-time event but must be a continual process. The Hebrew word for seek is the idea of repeatedly reading and studying. The picture is “beating a path” to God, consistently going to Him and His Word. In doing so, we tread the ground over and over, leaving an impression on everything in our lives.

Psalm 34:10 is a great promise for us when we seek Him with this diligence and passion. It says those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. What a promise! This should prompt us to ask: What are these good things?

Good things promised to those who seek the Lord

We Don’t Need to Worry:

In Matthew 6:31-34, we are reminded not to worry about mundane concerns but to prioritize seeking God's kingdom and righteousness. He knows our needs and will divinely meet us in those places when we our main pursuit is Him and His Kingdom!

We Are Delivered from Our Fears:

Seeking the Lord delivers us from fears (Psalm 34:4). The verse tells us that in seeking God, we discover a source of comfort, courage, and deliverance. By turning our hearts and minds towards Him, we find solace, and our fears are replaced with the reassurance of His unending love. Seeking God becomes a powerful antidote to the anxieties that can often grip our hearts, allowing us to navigate life with strength and peace.

He Will Be Found:

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Even in the depths of our hardest challenges, God is not distant or indifferent. Seek Him earnestly, with the simple belief that He promises to be found by those who diligently pursue Him. He is not elusive, but a faithful presence waiting to be discovered by us.

Wholehearted seeking is making Jesus our top priority. Picture the time management lesson with the jar, rocks, and sand – the key is to prioritize the big rocks, then the small rocks and sand will naturally fall into place. Jesus is the big rock! He is the significant, foundational rock that deserves our priority. Place Him in the jar of your life first and everything else will naturally fall into place. It is a wonderful promise!

The Urgency of Now:

The call of Isaiah 55:6 to seek the Lord is one of urgency. We are told to seek Him "while He may be found" and call upon Him "while He is near." Respond promptly when God speaks to our hearts! 2 Corinthians 6:2 reinforces this urgency with "NOW is the acceptable time; NOW is the day of salvation," and Hebrews 3:15 warns, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." We are not promised tomorrow. We are not guaranteed the rest of the day.

If you are reading this, I know God is calling on you to seek Him! The call to seek the Lord is a timeless call but also a timely call. May the urgency of seeking the Lord resonate in your heart today.

Reach out to us if you are ready to answer that call!