My daughter turned 4 this past April. She is at an interesting stage of life – asking “why?” about everything, wanting to know about how everything works and comes together. So I decided that I wasn’t going to give her silly little answers anymore when she asks “where does the sun go when it’s dark?” I decided this because she didn’t want my silly answers anymore. She really wanted to know why! And she was asking me because she trusts me to help her with her questions.
Tonight was no different. Tonight she wanted to know about thunder and lightening. Now in all honesty, I didn’t pay much attention to science back in 5th grade…so answering this question to satisfy her curiosity was going to be a stretch. However, with the help of my brilliant wife, we told her all about it, in a way that she could understand. And, we did so in a way that made her feel safe from it ever hurting her too. (She was a little concerned about lighting hitting her at some point.)
After the conversation with her I was left thinking about what just happened. She kept asking more and more questions until she really understood everything. She wasn’t afraid to ask any question. This experience with her reminded me of something really important about my relationship with God, too. It reminded me that God desires to have such a strong connection with each one of us that we are never left feeling alone, filled with questions or doubt about His perfect will and timing. It reminded me He is patient with me and longs to spend time with me as I face all of the “why’s” in life.
Too often we look at God as this distant entity in our lives that is either too busy or too far removed to ever be concerned about all of our questions and desires. But the truth is that God is very present in all that we do and He longs to give us His wisdom and peace concerning anything that we face.
And, all too often we find ourselves too busy, even with some very good things, to just stop and ask God to show us His heart and His plan for all the “why’s” that we face in life. We cannot continue to neglect seeking the heart of God in order to keep a schedule or to balance a list of tasks. And when we stop to seek God’s heart, we have to be willing to wait on Him and His direction for what we seek.
Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.” And Psalm 24:3-6 says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from The Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face…”
We can approach God with any need and with any question. His knowledge is great. And He lacks nothing. A time will come when I won’t have all the answers to all the questions my daughter may have. However, God has established a way for each of us to always seek His heart: through humility, patience and a desire to not let any excuse or temptation keep you from faithfully following Him – and waiting on Him.
May we be a generation who makes seeking Him, who makes seeking His will, the main priority and focus of our lives! And may we be faithful to wait on Him as He gives us the wisdom and knowledge that we seek!
reflections of hope 