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What Are
You Looking For?
By Jerri Phillips
I lost my wedding set a little over a
year ago. The story goes like this. We
had received word we were going to Italy
for four months with Rob’s job. A
few weeks later, I found out I was
pregnant. When I was pregnant with our
daughter, my fingers and hands swelled up
like balloons, and I had to take my rings
off very early in the pregnancy. I did
not want to risk getting to Italy and
having to remove my rings and possibly
losing them there, so I took my wedding
set and the receipt for my camera that
was still under repair, put them in an
envelope, and gave them to a friend. She
was going to pick up my camera and send
it to us. As for the rings, they were
going to stay in her possession until we
returned home, and so they did.
Our four-month trip was abbreviated to
eight days due to pregnancy
complications. Upon our return, Vicki
brought the envelope, still intact, home
to me. When I was able to get out of bed
again, I opened the envelope and took out
the contents. I placed the rings in a
safe place so they would not get lost,
and I took the receipt to pick up the
camera. My camera is fine, but that is
the last time I saw my rings. Since then,
we have moved, and despite Rob’s
constant reassurances, we did not find my
wedding set during the packing, after the
move, or during the cleanup. They are
simply gone.
Thankfully, I have a very loving husband.
He did not yell at me or make
accusations. Instead, when we did our
final search of the apartment we were
moving from, he held me while I cried
that there were no rings to be found, and
then, he promptly offered to take me
shopping for more rings after the baby
arrived safely and I was happy with my
weight again. True to his word, that is
exactly what we did.
During our search to replace my rings, we
looked through several jewelry stores.
Sometimes we went as a couple, and
sometimes I would drop in while the
children and I were out running errands.
In each case, I would go directly to the
wedding section. I would look at bands,
solitaires, and sets. Anna would want to
look at the other pretty jewelry, but not
me. I was on a mission. I knew what I
wanted, and I knew I would never find it
in the necklaces or watches. I wanted a
special item, and it could only be found
in a particular place. Why waste my time
looking elsewhere?
Of course, it made perfect sense. After
all, would you go to a clothier in order
to get a transmission for your car? No.
The idea is absurd. So if this is what
one could classify as a
“given”, why do we have
problems when it comes to other basic
“givens”? For instance, we
profess to be seeking God, and we are
confused when we cannot find Him. We
wonder why the object of our search
eludes us. I would submit that the
problem is not an elusive God but a
misplaced search.
In Jeremiah 29:13, the Lord says,
“You will find me when you seek me
with your whole heart.” Notice the
simplicity of this statement? “You
will find ME when you seek
ME…(capitalization mine)” It
seems like such an elementary statement,
and yet, we stumble over it. It has been
my experience that people who are seeking
God and not finding Him are seeking in
two possible places.
First, people who are seeking God and not
finding Him tend to be seeking Him in
others. I am so horribly guilty of this.
Let me tell you. When I truly started
seeking God, I talked to everyone I knew
that I felt had a strong spiritual
foundation. I talked to my pastor, his
wife, my Bible study leader, laymen,
prophets; the list goes on and on. And
you know what? I came up empty. I was
given a lot of biblical ideas and
directions, but no God. I still had the
same stirring emptiness. People can be
good mentors and can be sources of
direction, but they will never be God.
Second, people who seem to find God is
avoiding them typically are looking less
for God and more for the things He can
give. Again, I am speaking from first
hand experience. Like everyone else, I
want to be blessed. I want God to bless
my family and every aspect of our lives,
and I seek His favor and grace for those
things. However, to be quite honest, I
wasn’t seeking God. I was seeking
what He could do for me or what He could
give me, and I was frustrated when they
didn’t do for me what I wanted God
to do. Isn’t it amazing how we seek
what God can give us and then have the
audacity to be bewildered when things do
not satisfy us as only God can?
Let me be blunt with you. That
convertible you may be praying for or
that brand new house you are wanting is
not the same as seeking God, and even if
He gives you those things, do not be so
naïve as to think they will bring you
joy and fulfillment. Despite what the
world would like for us all to believe,
things will never be the same as God, not
even if we could take them directly from
His hand.
Purely seeking God, so I am finding out,
has nothing to do with petitions or
supplications, not for other people or
for things. We often state that we are
seeking God on a particular subject, or
we are seeking God for someone, and we
should. Paul said to present our
petitions and thanksgiving to God, and
the peace that surpasses understanding
would guard our hearts and minds. The
problem with that, for me anyway, is that
I would present my prayers and petitions
with thanksgiving, but I never seemed to
receive the peace part. Why? Because I
had not truly sought God. I had sought
His gifts.
When we seek God, we are not seeking the
benefits of His presence. We are not
seeking His Santa Sack. When we are
seeking God, we are focused on the Lord
alone. Our purpose is His presence,
nothing more.
Do you know why some people have peace
when they lay their supplications before
the Lord? People who have peace are not
necessarily the ones who have the perfect
words to say. They are not necessarily
the ones who spend three hours pounding
away on one issue. The people who can
pray and walk away with peace are the
ones who have sought God and know His
character. The people you see walking in
peace and joy are the ones who have
sought God’s presence first, and His
presents second. These are the people who
simply desire an audience with the
Almighty because they love to be near
Him, and to be near Him is gift enough
from Jehovah.
Personally, I can attest to having prayed
for God’s will and having received
what I petitioned Him for, only to find
out that I was as unhappy as I had been
before I received anything from Him. I
can also attest to having spent time in
prayer when I asked for nothing, but
instead, showered Him with adoration. It
is those times that left me with joy and
peace.
The Lord tells us that we will receive
whatever we ask for in His name (John
14:14), and He is not a liar. Personally,
I find great strength and assurance in
that verse. It means that I can ask for
His blessing and be assured of receiving
it. However, I don’t recall reading
where we are directed to pray for peace,
joy, love, or many of the other things we
are truly seeking. The Bible says that
Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah
9:6). God is love (1 John 14:6). The
fruit or outgrowth of the Spirit is joy
(Galatians 5:22-23). Notice that things
are all things we want, but nothing that
we can request. Instead, they are
attributes that we will find only when we
seek the Father, the Son, and the filling
of the Spirit.
Let me give you a concrete example. Would
it have been logical to ask Mother Teresa
to make us merciful? Of course not.
However, if we had spent time with her
and watched her work with the needy and
hurting, could we have learned those
attributes? Yes. We will never find love,
joy, peace, or any other attribute of God
anywhere besides with Him. If those are
things we truly seek, then we must truly
seek the One who possesses them.
It is far too common for people to look
for fulfillment in material things or
even in spiritual things that only serve
to keep us from the One who completes us.
We seek the gifts of God while what we
really need is not a hand out, but a
touch of His hand. We need God Almighty,
not His gifts. He promises that we will
find Him when we seek Him with our whole
heart. However, maybe you are like me.
Maybe you are seeking in the wrong place,
or maybe you are seeking the wrong thing.
The Lord promises that you can find Him
when you seek Him. You just have to
figure out exactly what you are looking
for.
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