I was watching the news on television when my daughter called. My grandson had recovered from an illness recently and she informed me that he fell ill once again with something else.
I put the phone down and started to pray. At that point, Jesus told me to switch channels to listen to Joyce Meyer preaching about seeking the face of God.
Seeking His face was exactly what I was doing with my requests. However, she said that going to God with our constant requests would be insulting if it is the only reason why we would desire to visit Him.
We should long to be constantly close to God, desiring to remain in His presence.
I knew this! I preached it myself many times in the past! Our life should be about God, not the blessings of God and yet…, I forgot! My personal problems and those of my children added up in changing my approach towards seeking God!
I apologised to Jesus and immediately experienced His close presence as He covered me in His love. “It’s all right, My child. So good to have you back. I’ve missed you.”
God is actually doing what we are supposed to do by constantly desiring our presence.
On the day we decided to follow Jesus, He stretched out His hand to take ours as we walk through life together as Father and child.
But, like a child lets go of the hand holding his as soon as his attention is fixed on something new, we often let go of the Father’s hand. Today, I realised that even though I often might have let go of His hand, it remained stretched out towards me all the time with the consequence that He remained close to me.
There is more. In my mind, I imagined a small child holding on to the hand of his Dad. Suddenly the child longs for more. He lifts up both his arms in order for his Dad to pick him up and hold him close to His heart.
The head of the child pressed against the head of his Dad, is the ultimate goal of seeking the face of God. This is where God wants us to be. Then, when problems arise, He shall hide us in His pavilion and in the secret place of His tabernacle. (Psalm 27:5)