Permission to Discover
As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 1 Chronicles 28:9
Will Let You Find – The Hebrew word matsa’ is used for finding just about anything. Whether you’re looking for a person, a place or a thing, you would use matsa’ at the moment of discovery. What’s unusual about the word in this verse is not its meaning but its form. Here the verb is in a form that tells us that the action is a continuous, present tense, passive event. In other words, instead of me finding God, He actually finds me – but He lets me think I’m doing the work because He wants me to be encouraged for my effort.
Just think about this for a moment. Remember all those times when you cried out, “Lord, where are You now?” Reflect on all those people who claim that they have looked and looked but have never found God. Then consider David’s advice to his son. God does not play “Hide and Go Seek.” Instead, He puts up cosmic billboards pointing the way toward communication with Him. The problem of the “hidden” God is not on His side of the equation. It’s on ours. God is on display for anyone who actually seeks (oh, that’s not the same as looks). In fact, He graciously allows us to find Him – even if we are seeking in the wrong places. Nothing more is required to “find” God than this: a pure heart and a willing mind (more about this later).
Of course, this verse also tells us what happens when we just look in God’s direction. The result of a glance toward the Creator as we go about doing what we wish to do is this: God rejects us. Believe me, if God does not want you to find Him, He is more than capable of making sure you never do.
In this age of the Santa Claus God, we can’t imagine that He would actually reject us. We have this frighteningly mistaken theology that God is just waiting for us to finally finish our own agendas and invite Him in for tea when it suits us. We act as though God will hang around until we have satisfied ourselves, like a pet outside the door waiting to be given the left-overs. We don’t get it! God decides, not us. And He bases His decision about who will keep company with Him on His exhaustive review of our hearts. He knows every motive, every intention and every goal. God keeps company with those who wish to honor and serve Him. They have no difficulty whatsoever of finding God.
So ask yourself: Have you noticed the absence of the divine lately? Are you missing the feeling of His presence? Do you feel like you need to make a search? If you do, perhaps the place to start is on the inside of your heart. Permission to discover is liberally granted to all who come without a second agenda.
