Pastor's Ponderings, July 5, 2016

Let Us Look For God In The Right Places

Last weekend, we attended Pastor Rod Parsley’s Dominion Camp Meeting 2016 where he spoke in the pulpit for the first time in a year as a recent cancer survivor.  The worship was awesome, the speakers were anointed, and the setting was inspiring.  Exhausted after the first evening session, we went to the parking lot and could not find our vehicle.  We looked, we prayed, we talked to other attendees, but still did not find the car. The thought that I was down in Ohio, at night, without transportation, and that someone might have stolen my car briefly ran across my mind.

One of those who were also looking for their car suddenly mentioned that there are four doors to the church and they all looked alike.  I had spent all of my time at the wrong door.  When I got to the right door, I saw my car just where I had left it. 

How many of us can relate to the lyrics by Johnny Lee, “I was lookin' for love in all the wrong places?”  God made man with an inward desire to seek Him (Acts 17:26-28).  But many of us will seek what we need from God in the wrong places, in the wrong people, in the wrong things, or in the wrong way. 

God promises us that those who seek Him will find Him (Proverbs 8:17).  But there is a caveat.  We cannot hope to find Him when we are half heartedly looking for Him, looking for Him whenever we get the occasional urge, or whenever circumstances force us to look for Him as a last resort. He wants us to look for Him with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13). 

What are you searching for today?  How badly do you want to find it? Let us decide that we are going to earnestly seek God for His direction, His wisdom, His blessings, and His benefits through prayer and thanks to Him (Philippians 4:6).  We will get Him and His assistance when we look for Him in the right places.

Acts 17:26-28
New International Version (NIV)
26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 

28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being….

Proverbs 8:17
New International Version (NIV)

17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

Jeremiah 29:13
New International Version (NIV)

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Philippians 4:6
New International Version (NIV)

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.