It was so loud, I had to turn to look. Not one, not two, but three squirrels were racing up a pine tree. Their sharp nails were making so much noise against the rough bark. I was curious how this race would go when they got to the top of the tree. Sure enough, they came racing down. The one in the lead moved away from the trunk, down a branch, and leaped into the air to grab the branch of the neighboring tree. The two following didn’t noticed but finished their race down to the bottom. And then suddenly stopped, as if to say, ‘Where did that third one go?’
I’ve had a few conversations recently with believers who aren’t sure what God is up to. They want to stay close to God and to do His will. But in the face of a decision, they are hesitant to go in any specific direction. It’s as if they suspect that God will, like that lead squirrel, take a flying leap in a different direction, and they will be left scratching their heads, “Where did He go?”
God is not a God who wants to be lost. If anything, He wants us to seek and find Him. God declares to Israel this about Himself in Jeremiah 29:11-14:
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord,
Jeremiah 29:11-14a
God speaks these assuring promises when Israel was facing great difficulty; their lives were turned upside down by exile, loss, and death.
Seeking after God isn’t supposed to be complex or mysterious. Seek Him in prayer. Seek Him by reading the Word of God. Seek Him by being with Christians in Sunday morning church. Seek Him as you would treasure, or your phone, or your wallet. You won’t lose Him. He will let you find Him, and give you His love, joy, and peace!