Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
I am always looking for God. I get up every morning looking for him. If I ignore him, then inevitably I try to find him through something worldly or destructive.
G.K. Chesterton once said, “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.” Is this an extreme example or not? Think of all our idols, things that we think will make us joyful or satisfied but do not. All people have idols. In our instant gratification culture, we can get them more readily. But, even in poorer less affluent cultures, men and women find idols. We all yearn for something.
C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” John Wayne, in the movie “Chisum”, said, “… no matter where people go, sooner or later there’s the law. And sooner or later they find God’s already been there.”
How are we to find God in the morning so that he is with us throughout the day? God speaks to us through his living word. Through the inspired word of God, we are told first to believe, to have faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9). We should all develop a routine of devotion, a time of sincere naming of our sins (1 John 1:9), praise and gratitude to our Lord and God (Psalm 19), and then petitions (Mark 11:24). We pray, we listen, we enjoy.
Jesus is in the details of our daily life. Joy is found in him and nothing else. Reading his Holy Word every day is key to our relationship. Through prayer and the filling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16) we are mentored by Jesus.
Meditate on who you are through Christ and what you would be without him. Then we can take Christ, our Savior into every mundane aspect of life. When we eat, for example, God has provided. While we sleep – in a state of helplessness – God sustains us, our loved ones, and the world around us. God reminds us that he is in control, we are not, and that HE WILL provide for us, so we can play and rest and leave our anxiety behind.
We may wake up looking for God, but the fact remains that no matter where we look he has already been there.