The Missing Component
I was never a big fan of math growing up. In fact I took the easiest math class my senior year of high school, because, well in reality, this math class allowed for me to get out of school 2 hours early before anyone else, so why wouldn’t I?
Sure enough years later, I am finding myself thinking of certain passages in the bible as an all encompassing equation.
Now, hear me out! I am not saying Christianity is an equation like, “if I do this, and say this, if I pray this prayer, I will get this, or be saved.” Because Christianity is definitely messy and a beautiful mess at that.
But, there are some passages in the bible where we tend to miss key components, but only read what we want to read.
The other day I was speaking with a group of college students about the Character of God. I talked about something that is near to my heart right now and that is the question, will you believe I am still good? Remember this from a previous blog?!
In general overview, Psalms 10 shows God being present, yet hiding from David. It was the distance that in the end pushed David to seek God more. Answering God’s questions, “no matter the outcome will you believe I am still good?” After I got done speaking, I was pulled to the side by a student and they asked, “how do you come up with these messages?”
My answer, I don’t. I don’t come up with them, I live them. Everything I speak, preach, and write is something I am going through right now or have gone through.
The student asked me another question, “have you ever felt distant from God?”
OH HECK YES! And it’s normal, but in my times of distance from God I have found a common theme, and one missing component each time.
I brought the student back to the beginning Matthew 7:7. A verse we are all familiar with.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be open to you.
Here’s the thing friends, this verse is so common, it is one we learn from a young age, but it is a verse I have found recently I take for granted in my Christian walk. I continued to tell the student that oftentimes I find myself in times when I am distant from God I am missing a key component from Matthew 7:7.
More often than not we are really good at asking for the thing we want, and knock on every door that comes our way, but we tend to forget at times to seek. The missing component is one of the biggest concepts in the bible.
I continued to tell the student that when I am in a season of distance it’s because I am doing everything BUT seeking God first. And he even says, “seek and you will find”. When we seek God we WILL find him, without a doubt.
Even look at the following verses….
Psalm 105:4 “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!
Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 27:8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
2 Chronicles 15:2b “ The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
1 Chronicles 16:10-11 “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”
Twice we see the importance of seeking him continually in our life. So, why do we tend to miss this missing component of Matthew 7:7. The easy answer is, We are human. The long answer goes into the fact that as humans we can turn to our own self-sufficiency trying to do everything we can to get what we want, and also get the outcome we think we deserve. We can spend so much of our day Asking and knocking that we forget to seek.
Again, I am not saying that any of that is bad, we should ask God for help and guidance, and when a door comes our way it is ok to knock, but the reality is, we can have one without the other. If you are asking God for guidance, you can’t be guided if you don’t seek God for that. And if you don’t seek God after asking for his guidance, you may miss the door that God is waiting for you to knock on.
For me, I may be asking God to take Boldly Seeking to the next level of ministry, but if I am not seeking God and relying on him, I may miss the door to knock on. Or even so, I may not be as prepared for the door I am about to knock on.
Matthew 7:7 is this beautiful equation that allows for us to check our math in life, to check our priorities and relationship with Jesus.
Take inventory of Matthew 7:7 in your own life. Where are you asking, seeking, and knocking? Are you missing a component that you should invest in a bit more?
