Seeking God

Seeking God While Social Distancing

Social distancing does not apply to God. I find myself spending too much time seeking the latest breaking news about COVID-19, how it got here, how many people are infected, how many have died, what are the authorities doing to stop it, what happened on Wall Street today, and a thousand other distractions, and too little time drawing close to God. 

In Psalm 63 David made seeking the Lord his priority.  He was out in the wilderness; you may feel like you’re in a wilderness trying to keep your distance from others.  But what better time for us to focus on seeking the Lord?  Seeking God means cultivating the heart practice of reflecting on God, of thinking about God and His presence right here in the wilderness.  This is what we were born for: not to keep our distance from God, but to draw as close as possible to Him.  A. W. Tozer calls this “the glorious pursuit.” 

Here’s how David sought the Lord.  You might read along in the Psalm.  His relationship with God was personal:  “Oh God, you are my God.” (v. 1)    His strongest desire was to earnestly seek his God, like a thirsting and starving man (v.1).  Reflecting on God’s attributes, he meditated especially on God’s power and glory (v. 2).  Nothing in all of his life outranked God’s lovingkindess (3).  God completely satisfied his soul (v. 5).  When he couldn’t sleep he meditated on his God (v. 6).  Like a lover, his soul held fast to God (v. 8).  David ends by rejoicing in the assurance that God will triumph over all evil (v. 11). This is a Psalm worth memorizing.

How easy to be distracted from seeking the Lord.  And yet, we were born to seek the Lord.  Only the wicked do not seek the Lord (Rom. 3:11).  God promises in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  

Nothing wrong with checking out the latest news, but I’ve got to learn to tap out of my Fox News app, go over to one of my Bible apps and spend more time seeking the Lord in His Word. This thought came to me this week as I thought about Psalm 63: nothing can keep me from seeking the Lord except my own heart.  Let’s invest these days of social distancing in drawing near to the Lord. 

Ernie