March 21
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
To have an understanding of this verse, we need to look at where the audience receiving this message was. This message was not written to people who were living comfortably in surroundings that were familiar to them. This message was not written to an audience living in the lap of luxury and plenty. Jeremiah writes these words to the Israelites living as exiles in Babylon. They had lost everything: their temple, their land, their homes, and their identity. In the first seven verses of this chapter, God tells the people they are to settle in Babylon, build houses, plant gardens, marry, and seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which they are exiled. God tells them that He will come for them and return them to their homes after seventy years (vs 10). Seventy years is a long time - a lifetime. As time passed, it’s understandable they believed God had abandoned them and forgotten their circumstance and situation. But, Jeremiah reminds the exiles that God is not dependent on location. God was not just (only) found back in Jerusalem. Even in a foreign land, the way back to God - the way of finding God - was through internal seeking.
The promise in this verse is clear: “You will seek me and you will find me.” God isn’t playing a game of hide-and-seek. He’s not being elusive or trying to avoid being found. God is wanting to be found. He wants the exiles to discover Him, but this requires a specific posture - a posture of a heart that is “all-in” in the seeking process. Even in dire circumstances far from the comforts of their homes in Jerusalem, God would be found if they seek him with all of their (undivided and focused) hearts. They needed to prioritize God as the primary pursuit of their lives - even when life wasn’t going the way they desired. It needed to be a wholehearted seeking. A seeking filled with determination and grit. A seeking that took precedence above everything else in their lives.
This message still applies to us today. We may feel as though we are living in an exiled land and far from the comforts we know and desire (peace, contentment, prosperity, and plenty). It may seem like it’s been a lifetime of God abandoning and forgetting about us and our circumstances. We may be tempted to think God is disinterested in our lives and playing a game of “hide-and-seek” with us - a game in which we can not find Him. But, this verse reminds us that God can be (will be) found if we seek Him with all of our heart. The answer, then, in finding God, is in our desire. Wholehearted seeking begins when we stop trying to fix our hearts ourselves, and instead direct our full attention toward God who is with us no matter where we are or what circumstances are present in our lives. When our whole heart is focused on God, we see He has never abandoned us and we can trust Him and His plan for our lives (a plan to prosper us and not harm us, to give us hope and a future vs 11). Where is your focus? What are you seeking? How will a wholehearted focus on God change your life?
Father - Thank You that You are not a God who hides from me, but a loving and gracious Father who desires to be found. You, the Creator of my heart, know how quickly and easily my heart is pulled in so many directions and easily filled with so many things. Help me to desire You and seek You always - not just when I am in trouble or life is hard. Grant me the grace to seek You more than I seek anything else in my life. May You be my number one priority. Create a hunger in me that can only be filled with Your presence. When I feel “exiled” - or that You’ve abandoned me - may these be the very things that drive me to search for You even more. You promise that when I seek You, I will find You. Thank you! In Your name we pray. Amen