Job 23: Searching for God

Scripture Reading: Job 23

8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Many of us are on the search for God. Whether we say we already believe in God, gave our lives to him, or are still processing the whole concept of faith and attempting to discover who Christ is, the search for God can often feel as if it is unending. Many will give up before they have even come close to understanding what it means to have met God.

Self-fulfilling prophecies

According to Psychology Today, there is a term called Self-fulfilling prophecies. They define it as: “Our expectation that we will see a particular outcome changes our behavior, which shapes the way others see us. In turn, others provide the feedback we’ve set ourselves up to get, which serves to reinforce the original belief.” In the same way as self-fulfilling prophecies, we have often interpreted God to be someone who he is not. Not simply because of an inability to fully interpret the scriptures, but because of our sinful nature. We tend to make up our interpretations of who we wish God would be versus who God might actually be. The fact is that God is often the being we don’t want to be more than the one we wish he was.

God is not always where we want him to be.

There are times we’ve limited our perception of God’s whereabouts. It is easy for us to say: “God, I need you here at this time, at this place, for this purpose. Work your magic!” But this suggests he is not there at all otherwise, as if he is not omnipresent. We mistake God’s sovereignty of being limited. The more troubling factor about this sort of perception suggests that we only need him for the purpose of my own fulfillments and needs. This is not to say we shouldn’t ask him to reveal his presence, but rather it is concerning the idea if that is all we call upon God for. If we are constantly on the search for a God that shows up when we need him to, just maybe, we ought to first invite him fully into our lives. Finding God is not simply a matter of him being somewhere. It is a matter of whether he is truly inside our lives. It is identifying where my heart, mind and soul are either empty or filled with junk and letting him in there. Even where and when it hurts, and even where and when everything is happy.

“If, like the elder brother, you seek to control God through your obedience, then all your morality is just a way to use God to make him give you the things in life you really want.”

― Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

God does not always do things our way.

God is extremely unconventional. This is both bad news and good news for some of us because we often look for God to show up and do something a certain way. We’ve often already had the idea in our minds beforehand! Throughout the bible, God always uses unconventional ways to reveal himself to his people so that we do not idolize or formulate his power and create for ourselves false gods; or what we call religion. For example in Mark 8:23 He spits on a blind mans eyes, puts his hands on him, and asks if he can see anything. But another time he tells a Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. There is no real formula to how God works his wonders. A problematic assumption is that if God doesn’t show up and do things the way we hope or expect, we say that he simply isn’t there or we have prayed the wrong way or that maybe He is not pleased with us. Any of these assumptions are wrong.

God doesn’t move according to our religious report card, nor by how we feel or how we want things to be. He shows up according to his timing, method and plan. Our only true requirement is to trust in Him. Repenting of our sins in itself is trusting in the Lord. Praying is our response to trusting in the Lord. Living according to His Word is a response to trusting in the Lord. It is not a religious formula for wondrous results. Jesus wasn’t the Messiah the Israelites wanted him to be. He was the Saviour He needed to be. When seeking for God’s will for our lives we trust him fully and ask him to have His way, not our way.

Do I want to know God Himself more than just what He can do for me?

Today, fix your eyes first on the Father, before you fix your eyes on the things of the Father. Search for God in who He is according to His living Word.

One Year Bible:

JOSHUA 22:21-23:16
LUKE 20:27-47
PSALM 89:14-37
PROVERBS 13:17-19

Photo by: Ales Krivec, https://unsplash.com/aleskrivec