Sought and Found

Unless God revealed Himself to mankind, we would never find Him.  It would be more impossible for a man to know the almighty God who dwells in unapproachable glory than for a cat to learn calculus or a dog to understand and explain Kepler's laws of planetary motion.  God is so great and beyond our comprehension it requires the gracious intervention of our Maker to open eyes of faith to see Him at work in everything.  God has promised those who seek Him will find Him, and blessed are those who believe His word and receive Jesus whom the Father has sent.

During my nightly reading I was captivated by what happened after the people of Judah united to serve only the LORD with an oath in 2 Chronicles 15:15:  "And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around."  It was not out of the goodness of the hearts of the people, being fed up with life's troubles or even the negative consequences of their own sin that moved people to seek God:  it was an exhortation by the Holy Spirit through the prophet Azariah the son of Oded, a prophet likely you have never heard of because there are no books of the Bible titled by his name.  The Spirit of the almighty God came upon Azariah with a message for the king, and the hearts of the people turned to the LORD and found Him.

2 Chronicles 15:1-7 tells us what happened:  "Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ³ For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; ⁴ but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. ⁵ And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. ⁷ But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"  The prophet related how God chastened His people when they departed from Him, but if they sought Him they would find Him.  For a long time the people were without peace and were troubled on every side.  There was great turmoil that resulted in destruction and adversity.  Seeking God required labour to obey Him and put away sin, and the exhortation came with the promise of sure reward.

King Asa and the people heeded the word of the LORD spoken by Azariah, and it required courage to put away idols and remove the queen from her position for her idolatry.  People from all around flocked to king Asa because God was with him (2 Chron. 15:10).  There were times when God revealed Himself with fire from heaven on Sinai, consumed the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel and a glorious cloud filled the temple.  You might wonder, how did people know they had found God?  Verse 15 gives us the answer:  the LORD gave them rest all around.  They were at rest inside and out, at peace with God and one another.  The trouble and adversity that plagued them dissipated and disturbance was replaced with rejoicing.  All Judah rejoiced and was at rest because they sought the LORD and He was found by them.  There is no need to complicate this, to obsess over how they knew they found God because we doubt such a thing is possible.  When a man previously blind was asked how he was miraculously made whole by Jesus he said, "One thing I know:  though I was blind now I see."

Jesus bid all come to Him and find rest for our souls, and rejoicing in the Prince of Peace is a consistent theme for all those who believed in Jesus Christ even in the midst of trials.  Jesus is our Peace, and God Himself is our reward.  People troubled by God were given strength to seek and find God, and they rejoiced to seek Him because their efforts were bountifully rewarded.  Praise the LORD Jesus is the Good Shepherd sent to find us lost sheep, and when we respond to His voice by seeking Him we are rewarded with His presence where we experience perfect peace and rest.