God is Looking… Will He Find You?
By Michael Kelley
“Where are you?”
The question rang out across the garden. The first humans, who had enjoyed perfect fellowship with their Creator and lived in perfect harmony with the rest of His creation, had walked and talked in naked transparency with God and with each other. But not anymore.
Now they were hiding.
Now they were self-conscious.
Now they were filled with the guilt and shame that came from their lack of faith and rebellion.
And God was looking for them. This kind of search is something we find happening several times in the Bible. God is looking - searching - but His search is not based on lack of information. In the garden, God wasn’t looking for Adam and Eve because He didn’t know where they were; He knew very well where they were, just as He knew very well what they had done. And when we see God looking for other people throughout the Bible it’s not because He is lacking in information. God knows where the person or people are He is looking for, and yet He searches anyway:
God looks down from heaven to see if anyone is wise or seeks God (Psalm 14:2).
God looks down from heaven to see if anyone is wise, worships him, or seeks God (Psalm 53:2).
God was searching for a man stand in the gap on behalf of the land (Ezekiel 33:20).
And one of the ways you can describe the entire ministry of Jesus Christ is that of searching:
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
So God is, among other things, a searcher. And that is actually very good news for us. It’s good news fundamentally because even when we were not searching for God, He was searching for us. Jesus came and found us, sought us out, and brought us into the family of God. But even now, God’s search is good news. Consider another example of His divine search:
“For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Sometimes we think we have to beg God to help us. To strengthen us. To give us aid. But that’s not the posture of our searching God. He is active and on the hunt. He is looking for those who are devoted to Him, eager to find them and strengthen them for His purposes. What good news if you are feeling weak today! What a great word if you are feeling a deficit in strength and fortitude and courage! God is on the hunt - the question is whether He will find you.
And that’s the thing. If God doesn’t find us, it’s not because He’s not looking. And it’s not because He’s not good enough at looking. It’s because we are not actually the people He is looking for. It’s because we are prideful or self-reliant or self-centered - we are everything except wholeheartedly dedicated to Him.
But if, on the other hand, we are devoted to Him, to His will, to His kingdom, then God will find us. And He will find us today.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
