Waiting To be Seen

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9 NKJV

Sometimes it doesn't take too much to shake our faith.  We thought we were once strong in the Lord, but life comes to snatch that away.  Where did God go?  He is there, christian, sometimes he is just waiting for US to see him just where he is.  More often than not, it is we who lose track of where God is, not the other way around.  One needs to remember, God hasn't changed, nor does he move from our side even when times are tough.  It is in these times especially that we will see his presence,  if we seek him.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29: 12-13 NKJV

Perhaps the reason that we often cannot find our Lord is because we're not seeking him?  Just a thought.  Not that I'm pointing fingers at anyone, just speaking from my own experience.  I lost track of how many times I've wondered just where God is when he very well may have been right beside me.  I wasn't seeking him.
I think there's a reason that God instructs us to seek him, like the Isrealites of old we are a wayward people.  When things are going well, we tend to do things our own way.  However, when faced with a challange or rough spot in life, we immediately run to God for protection.  Granted, God excels at helping us when we are in need, but it's obvious that he wants us to seek him at other times too.  After all, what parent among us doesn't complain when our their own children won't seek them out like they used to?  I'm assuming this is a trying time for any parent.  A child seeking their own independence has been known to cause high blood pressure as well as gray hair in parents.  No matter how much a parent prepares for a child going into the world on their own, it WILL leave an empty space inside of them.

"And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him,'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."  And they began to be merry.
Luke 15: 20-24 NKJV

It is in Luke 15 in Jesus' parable of a prodigal son that we get a look at just how our Heavenly Father feels when one of his children returns to him.  As the Good Shepherd Jesus knows his sheep, so our Father knows his own as well.  After all, he knew each of us before we were born, so he has a deeper knowledge of us than we do of ourselves.  When one of Gods little ones goes astray, why wouldn't he long for them to return?  THAT is the love of the Father.  We can be assured that when we seek him, he will be there.

~Scott~