“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we can hunger and thirst for You. As we continue to seek You, we can experience Your healing. As we seek You, we can accomplish all that You have purposed for us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
They were amazed and perplexed at this astonishing miracle that they were witnessing. They heard these disciples praising and worshipping the Lord for all His wonderful works in their languages. They understood what the disciples were saying but there was more to what was happening than just understanding the words being spoken.
This seeking heart that they had, caused them to receive the answers and then led them to have faith in God. It is, therefore, critical that we cultivate in ourselves and in others, a seeking heart, for the one who seeks finds.
Sadly, the majority are not seeking God for answers to life. They have substituted the knowledge of the Almighty with temporal solutions that the world offers. These temporary measures lead to further bewilderment.
Psalms 27:8 When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
This has to be our response, “Your face, LORD, I will seek”. This is a principle of life that we must cultivate intentionally. This is where we will experience God’s healing. God’s healing is such that we do not survive through the challenges of life but we thrive and rise above the struggles of life, victoriously.
Psalms 105:3-4 Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! (4) Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
Seeking the Lord is not about being confused and insecure but rather, we are sure that He has the answers and that He will guide us from moment to moment.
We look at this incident where the Lord taught the large crowd through parables. After He had taught the people and He was alone, the disciples came to Him and desired that He should explain to them the meaning of the parable of the Sower and the seed.
Mark 4:10-12 But when He was alone, *those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. (11) And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God*; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, (12) so that ‘SEEING THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND HEARING THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND; LEST THEY SHOULD TURN, AND THEIR SINS BE FORGIVEN THEM.’ ”
The Lord is making a very grave statement. He is saying that the forgiveness of sins is only for those who seek Him. To those who assume that they know and that there is nothing further to reckon with, with God, their sin remains.
This makes us realise that this matter of seeking God is fundamental. It is only in this ongoing attitude of seeking God that the healing from God, becomes a reality in us. The moment we become self-sufficient and lukewarm in our approach to the things of God, we will drift further into chaos.
To those who are seeking God, the Lord reveals the mysteries of the kingdom of God. He shows us how the working out of the kingdom of God, takes place in the everyday routine of life. To those who are seeking God, every moment in life is a revelation of a new side to the kingdom of God.
Matthew 13:11-15 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. (12) For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (13) Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (14) And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘HEARING YOU WILL HEAR AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND, AND SEEING YOU WILL SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE; (15) FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE GROWN DULL. THEIR EARS ARE HARD OF HEARING, AND THEIR EYES THEY HAVE CLOSED, LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, LEST THEY SHOULD UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEARTS AND TURN, SO THAT I SHOULD HEAL THEM.’
God is concerned for us that our hearts have grown dull, our ears are hard of hearing, and our eyes are closed. When this is our condition, it is a dangerous state, for even what we have in terms of our knowledge of God, will be taken away.
To the one who has, more will be given. It is the person who has a seeking heart, more will be given.
This was the reason why the Lord taught the people in parables. Parables are stories, illustrations, and real-life examples, that people can easily relate to and understand but conveys deeper truth. It is necessary for the hearer to stop, think, reason and search for the deeper truth. It is to such a person, that revelation of the kingdom of God is given and that person experiences healing.
The sad state is that people hear the parables, they give a non-committal, intellectual agreement to the message but never pursue to seek God to know the deeper truth. This person is in the most perilous state. Whatever understanding that this person has of God, will be taken away.
We must cultivate in us and in others a seeking for the things of God.