Desiring God

“Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely look for Him.”  Hebrews 11:6 The Living Bible

A few months ago I found myself backing away from God.  It wasn’t that I didn’t love Him and didn’t want to follow Him.  It was because a few doubts arose in my mind.  I wondered if I really worshipped the true God of the Bible or did I serve my own version of God; making God who I wanted Him to be to do my bidding.

I think we all sometimes conjure up faulty thoughts about God.  Our misconceptions of God result from our misunderstanding of who God is. Perfectionists in our lives expect our lives to be perfect and judge us when we make a mistake or fail.  So we think God must criticize us too instead of understand and forgive us and grow us.  We pray for healing but we don’t get better so we conclude we didn’t pray hard enough or we didn’t have enough faith.  The issue is to maintain our faith in God’s goodness. Another faulty thought we often carry around is that if God blesses our neighbor with the exact blessing we have been praying for but He doesn’t bless us then God must not like us very much.  But He has a different plan for each one of us, all of them good.

I think of the two disciples, Peter and John.  Jesus chose Peter to build His church.  Peter was persecuted and finally crucified.  John is called Jesus’ disciple that He loved.  He was exiled to the Island of Patmos where God gave him the revelation of the end times.  John is the only disciple that died a natural death.  Did God favor John more that Peter?  No; He only had a different agenda for each one.

Our questioning is a good thing.  It leads to a deeper understanding of who God is.  In His patience God didn’t leave me waiting on the sidelines wondering where He was in my life but He came Himself and led me out of my doubts.  God accepts us just where we are with Him and then grows us deeper in our relationship with Him.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

Do you know that God is just waiting to be your best friend?  He wants you to desire Him. He wants you to think about Him and talk to Him about everything in your life.  He wants you to adore Him; to make Him your hero.

That doesn’t mean you go around all day with your head in the clouds ignoring everyone and pretending to be a supernatural holy person.  Look at Jesus.  He desired God above everything else and He was always mingling with the people in whatever they were doing. 

How did He show His desire for God? He worshipped God His Father at the temple, He spent time with God alone on a regular basis, He cared about people, and He put God’s will above His own.

Jesus said it all in a couple of sentences:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” And He added, “Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” [Matthew 23: 37 and 39 The Living Bible]