Searching?...

"May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you." ~Psalm 40:36a

I am not sure all what was taught this last week since I missed the sermon being downstairs with the kiddos, but I think part of the idea was the question "do you have the desire for a relationship with God?" Well, do you? Do you search for him? Seek him? Long for him? I hope and pray you do. The benefits of searching for him are so numerous, resulting in finding the prize- a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Today as I read the verse up above I began pondering my desire and search for a relationship with God. What I have came up with is that in my walk with God, each path you take is different. Confessing now that at different times I am searching for Him more than others. There have been times when I have gone months without reading the Bible and other times when I can barely put it down. I have also seen this same pattern in others around me. I assume that we all have our moments of searching to no end for God and other moments of kicking up our feet saying we are tired and we will search tomorrow. Do you also notice the difference in how you handle the world around you in those 2 different situations? When you are searching and find yourself close to Him, isn't it true that really nothing can take your joy away? No matter how bad things seem to be falling and crashing around you, you are filled with joy and gladness because of Him. And then also isn't it true that when have decided that you are to tired to search at that moment, those same troubles seem to hit you harder and you find yourself in a joyless and lost state?

So what to do? To tell you the truth I am not sure of the answer but, I do believe it all goes back to the balance of VU VI VO (vision up, vision in, vision out). When you find yourself in a place that you can't smile and the joy is gone out of your life, something is out of kilter. You are unbalanced in your walk with God. Examine your life and ask yourself, have I stopped searching for God? Have I been to tired to try? If you find yourself in that spot don't delay in asking for help. Isn't that what your church family is for, to help you start that walk again. We are holding out our hands to help you stand back up and encourage you to continue your search. There is also another side of this for us as the family of Christ, we need to be more aware of our brothers and sisters and having more boldness to start encouraging those who have stopped searching to grab the hand we are holding out and grasp the strength from Jesus, he so freely gives, to continue that search.

Love Steph