Seeking His face takes effort

This morning I awoke as a sun the size of a Volkswagen crept above the tree line in the back yard wonderfully. I did last night's dishes while the sun bathed me in the light of the Lord. I prayed for direction and guidance today, another in a long line of days filled with temptation that only God can release me from. So I prayed that He watch over me, and, well, watch me.

What a wonderful month we're having. Oh, I know it's just the second day of it, but oh, what a wonderful month we're having. The weather is superb, if you don't mind a smidgen of pollen. Sunny. A light breeze. Cool nights, mild days. Even the humidity is down.

Today, my friend, is a perfect day to actively seek the Lord. Go after Him. Praise Him first, but go after Him second. The Bible puts it this way, over and over: "11 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

There's the constant notion that His face is what we seek.

David wrote of it this way: "My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek." And again, Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

Moses said of seeking God, "But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him."

And there is this idea: "Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. Seek. Mostly seek his face. Seek Him.

Francis Frangipane describes it this way:

“There are certain times when the Lord calls us out of the routine of our daily lives. These are special seasons where His only command is, “Seek My Face.” He has something precious and vitally important to give us that the familiar pattern of our daily devotions cannot accommodate. During such times people are often delivered of sins that have plagued them for years; others discover a depth in their walk with God that leads to greater effectiveness in ministry and prayer; still others experience breakthroughs in their families and are used by God to see loved ones brought into the Kingdom.”

In thinking about this word SEEK, I sought the definition and one of the ones included was "to go to or toward."

Perfect. God is telling us to go toward Him, and He's telling us constantly. Seek His FACE.

What does it mean to seek God's face? What is in a face? If you pay close attention to someone's face you can see a lot of things. In their eyes you can see if they are at peace. In their countenance you can see if they are happy, sad, mad, scared, or indifferent. You can tell what they think about you. When you are seeking God's face you are seeking His heart and His mind.

"Come to me (SEEK) all who are heavy laden..." He tells us. He wants us to come to him, seeking him, attempting to go to Him in good times and in bad, when the sun is shining and when the son is not. Can we do this? Can we try?

Poor old Job, for all his troubles, understood some key elements of God-man relationships.

He wrote: "... let their flesh be renewed like a child’s; let them be restored as in the days of their youth’— then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy;
he will restore them to full well-being."
Seeking His Face, seeking all of Him, all He has for us takes effort. You can not go to him if you are unwilling to move. And thus your flesh can not be restored if you are unwilling to move.

If we do move, there is something at the end of that rainbow: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

To seek his face is to get out of our comfort zones, pick up His Word, pray a little more perhaps, see those invisibles around us who are hurting and GO.