By Michael Sullivant
You are the God who wants us and wants us to want him back!
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being….” (Acts 17:24-28a NKJV)
Lord God, you are the king of the universe! You are the master craftsman of the visible and invisible cosmos; the glorious provider of life for the human, animal, and plant kingdoms; the chief strategist of geopolitics, and the brilliant lord of all human history. All these domains are yours, dear Lord.
And you have a hope in your heart for us … one primary longing and passion. It’s that all we might “seek the Lord”. It’s that we might stop in our tracks, humble ourselves just a bit, look up, and inquire about Who it is that has made all that we see and do not see. Who is it that has made us and given us self-consciousness and fearfully wonderful hearts, minds, emotions, and bodies? Who is it that gave us the impetus to attach to other people and make babies, families, neighborhoods, cities, and nations? Who is it that gave us the power to innovate; to subdue and utilize the raw materials of the earth in order to improve our existence in this world? Who is it upon and to whom we are so obviously ultimately dependent and accountable?
Who is it to whom we owe our existence, our worship, our gratitude, our love, and our allegiance? This is why you have given us life … to seek you and then to find you. You say that you will be found by us when we search for you will all our hearts. It seems you love to play hide and seek with humanity and … you love to lose the game! You have a hope that we will grope for you and discover by your graceful hints that you are hiding in plain sight.
Indeed, you’ve never been far away. You are the God nearby us. You never have been distant or remote. And you have always been right where each one of us is. It’s just that we must learn to use the keen senses of our hearts to locate you. Only Someone so big could be so close to all of us! You sustain our lives by your common grace and you hope it will lead us to receive your saving grace in your Son, Jesus Christ, whom you raised from the dead. Though you Lord, do not need anything from us … after all … you are the grand Giver of life … you want many things. And it seems that you, especially and simply, want us to want you back. You want us to see all that you’ve designed in the universe as a giant relational bid and invitation to respond to your generous love and the great news about Jesus the Christ. Yes, O Lord my God! I will arise and honor you each and every day. I will freely receive your good gifts of tangible love and joyfully bless your name forever.
