Found What You're Looking For?

The band U2 had a popular song in my high school days which repeated, "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for."  After climbing mountains, scaling walls, speaking the tongues of angels, and holding the hand of the devil, the desire for satisfaction remained insatiable.  There was still something Bono was looking for but not able to find.  Perhaps he didn't know exactly what he was looking for!  God made a promise to His people who sought Him in Deuteronomy 4:29 after they turned to the LORD wherever they had been scattered:  "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."  Again God promised in Jeremiah 29:12-13, "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

A lot of times the things we are seeking are not God and likely have much more to do with us than Him.  A divided heart is a troubling thing because it renders us incapable of seeking the LORD and finding Him.  God can and will be found by His grace, and if we have not found Him we cannot rightly place the blame on God who became human flesh, dwelt among us, died for us, and rose from the grave.  There He is if you will have Him.  Whether man judges Jesus worthy of worship is a very small thing indeed, for over what other man has the voice of the God boomed from heaven, "This is my only begotten Son in whom I am well-pleased?"  God is pleased to rejoice over and reveal Himself to all who trust in the LORD Jesus Christ.

After we place our faith in Jesus and endeavour to follow Him faithfully, undoubtedly we will face cares, sorrows, and troubles in this life.  David, a man God judged to be a man after His own heart, wrote in Psalm 27:13-14:  "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"  David would have fainted and lost heart had he not believed he would see the goodness of God in the land of the living - especially when things went wrong.  It was faith in God and His goodness which provided David courage and strength to persevere in the face of danger and betrayal.  He urged his readers to wait on the LORD and take heart.  God has been incredibly patient with us though our history is one of repeated failure:  shouldn't we be content and joyfully expectant to place our faith in the LORD and wait on Him who is only good?

The singer in the U2 song looked all over and never found what he was looking for, and when we stop looking to Jesus Christ we will start waiting on the wrong things.  If our hopes are pinned on our circumstances changing we might never receive the encouragement we long for.  If we look to others for strength and hope for the future we should not be surprised when discouragement, disillusionment, and frustration become our wretched companions.  But if we will look to the LORD, believing His goodness will be apparent and His grace sufficient, we will discover strength and encouragement everywhere.  When you are cast down or depressed, what are you looking for?  Waiting on the LORD turns our hearts toward Him again and puts our feet back on the solid ground of hope which is never disappointed.  Praise the LORD for the goodness He has shown to us and the encouragement He provides along the way through others.  How I rejoice to know and proclaim the goodness of our God who will be found when we seek Him with our whole hearts.