Seek The Lord

Seek the Lord

The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Psalm 34:10, ESV

MOST OF US CAN THINK OF things we lack. Some are minor details, but many are major desires—perhaps our health, the welfare of our marriage and children, our ability to get out of debt, and more. If our hearts are so inclined, we can come up with long lists of good things we lack. And many of us do have hearts so inclined. We have trained our minds well to rehearse the things we’re missing out on.

But that’s the problem. Minds that rehearse situations of lack and need—even serious ones—are not actually seeking the Lord. They are holding a grudge, pointing out a problem, expressing some sort of dissatisfaction with what God has given. One of the most significant and powerful goals of the Holy Spirit is to turn us toward new ways of seeing, to help us emphasize the goodness of God, to recognize how every good gift in our lives shines with his blessing. To seek the Lord is to cooperate with this transformation. Grateful hearts have done this. Complaining hearts have not.

So God urges us to seek him—not in the sense of asking him for what we need, though that’s always allowed, but to truly seek him. He wants us to enter into his purposes, understand his ways, ask him what’s on his heart today, and begin to realize all that goes into caring for our spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and relational needs that make a simple “fix it” approach impossible. He wants us not just to approach him but to walk with him, arm in arm, with real understanding of his heart.

When we do this, we realize that in the grand scheme of things, we lack no good thing. And we are much better positioned to ask for the good things we long for. We have entered into wisdom, and wisdom colors everything in our lives, especially our prayers. It stirs up our faith, trusts in God’s love, and thanks him for all he is doing on our behalf.

The goodness of God knows how to use our disordered wishes and actions, often lovingly turning them to our advantage.