Seek and you will find

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened."

Matthew 7:7-8, NIV

"If you are real, God, let me hear your voice. Let me see your face. If you are real, then why be so mysterious? Why not make it easier for people to believe?!" This phrase in some form or fashion has exited my lips more than I am willing to admit. The truth is, having faith in what I perceived to be an invisible God proved to be very difficult for me in the past. If I am being honest, there are still days where having faith is difficult...usually because life is not going as I desire and I feel like God must be absent or not care. As a nurse, I held the hands of those who were dying of cancer...many who were much too young to leave this Earth. How could a truly loving God take a mother away from her young children?

A few years back, I was hanging out with a friend at our neighborhood pool. We sat on the side (me burning to a crisp of course and unaware of the wrinkles I would get from all this tanning in my 20s...I digress) and watched her daughter splash around in the water. She, herself, was agnostic. She told me how her daughter had been going with a friend to Vacation Bible School and had wanted to get baptized. The mother, my friend, was hesitant only because she was not sure her daughter really knew what that meant...what it symbolized. She was not trying to discourage her at all, which I found very admirable. When I asked her about her own beliefs she said "You know. I want Jesus to be real and true. I mean, it all sounds really nice, but I just don't know if it is true."

Agnostic or follower of Christ, I think we can all relate to this statement. When you really study the Bible, it truly is the greatest love story ever told. But is that all it is? A really nice story? Why didn't God make it easier to believe if He really exists?

The truth is, He did come so that we could believe. He came to this Earth and His name was Jesus. He was both fully man and fully God. He performed miracles. He hung out with prostitutes and outcasts. He showed nothing but love and mercy...yet, people still didn't believe Him!! He tried to make it easier to believe. He did in fact show His face. Do you believe in history? Why is that we believe Socrates existed and he was born in 469 BC, yet we can't believe in the history of this man named Jesus?

In Greek, the word for "seek" is zēteō. It is a verb and literally means to require, crave, and demand something from someone. I love that God uses such a strong word that means demand. It makes me think of the scripture in Mark 9:24 where the father of a boy who is healed by Jesus exclaims "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" This man recognized that faith is something that is God given, but he had to ask for it: "everyone who asks receives (see verse above)". It should be added that there is also grace involved,  as faith and grace (grace is the free gift you are given of salvation for having faith) are not mutually exclusive.  I'm going to keep this elementary: you want faith? Ask Him. He promises if we seek, we shall find. And know that it can be a process. Don't give up on Him. 

If you are already a believer, you don't even have to look. His spirit already dwells in you. He is there. But we are often too busy seeking our own will and desires instead of allowing Him to live through us. It is when we allow this that we can see his face. It's not that He is absent....no, He is always pulling us back as hard as He can. But, we are so resistant. It is our constant battle of self/flesh vs. God, even though we know in our hearts that God knows best.

Be persistent in your quest to know God. Our world has jaded who God is. Christians are notorious for eating their own. It's no wonder so many want nothing to do with this Jesus man we claim to believe in and love. But, you are His beloved. You are His child. He will do anything and has done everything to be with you. Don't let your doubts keep you from seeking. God doesn't rebuke people because of doubts. The Bible is full of people who doubted Him. He is big enough to handle our doubts.