Man doesn’t stumble upon God by accident. We do not set out seeking something else, only to find Him around some corner, or hiding behind a tree. When we seek God and search for Him with all our hearts, God promises that we will find Him, but we must know who we’re seeking, why we are seeking Him, and once we’ve found Him, never let Him go.
God doesn’t play hide and seek with those whose desire is the
knowledge of Him. He is not aloof or cagey, nor is He trying to appear
mysterious for the sake of it. He makes Himself available, reveals Himself, and
allows Himself to be discovered by those who seek Him. If we’re always
searching for something other than God, then it should come as no surprise that
we haven’t found Him. When we set our minds and hearts to seeking only Him, His
presence is undeniably consistent, and it seems as though everywhere we look,
we see His guiding hand.
In the early nineties, Volkswagen Beetles were far more
prevalent than they are today, especially if you lived on the coast as we
happened to at the time. Given that we were three boys with energy to spare and
nothing to do on the longer car rides, we heartily embraced the game known as
Punch Buggy every time we went anywhere.
If you’ve never played it, the game is simple enough: every
time you spotted a Volkswagen Beetle in traffic before the other competitors,
you got to punch them in the shoulder as a prize. We were boys, we were bored,
and it took away from the discomfort of having to unstick yourself from the
duct tape crisscrossing the seat where the pleather had cracked and ripped.
At the time, we had an old, gray station wagon with a
rear-facing bench seat in the back, and that’s where we’d spend our time during
the drive, giving each other bruises, while the parents and grandparents were
in the front seats, tuning out the grunts of pain coming from the back.
You’ll never see three boys more focused on anything than we
were on being the first to spot the Beetles driving by, especially if you were
trying to keep from getting hit. You knew that once you heard “red bug, yellow
bug, blue bug,” or some other color favored by the hippies, a swift knuckle
sandwich was on its way, likely in the same general area where the other five
or six had landed.
We were boys on a mission, and everything faded into
obscurity except for spotting the Beetles on the highway. We didn’t notice palm
trees or buildings, we didn’t keep track of which interstate we were on, the
singular focus was on the thing that would keep us from getting hit.
When we seek God, it must be with the selfsame single-minded
focus. It goes without saying that distractions will be prevalent, and there
will always be something that tries to steer us away from the pursuit of God,
but nothing the world has to offer compares to His presence. It’s like
comparing costume jewelry to real diamonds and gold. The costume jewelry might
be fun to look at, the colors bright and varied, but when it comes to value,
there is none to be had in it.
There is no value in the things of this world. Worthless
baubles are just that, worthless. In God, however, there is eternal value
beyond what the human mind can grasp or comprehend. So many waste their lives
chasing after the brass ring only to feel let down and deflated once they
acquire it, realizing that it doesn’t live up to the hype. No one who has
sought God and found Him can claim that they were underwhelmed. No one can say
they expected more because His presence alone satisfies the soul of man in a
way nothing else can.
Just as prayer was an integral part of every memorable hero
of the faith since the dawn of time, faith itself was also present in their
hearts, intertwined and interconnected, working in tandem with their prayer
lives in order to bring about their lived experiences of walking in the power
and authority of God. A man of prayer will ostensibly be a man of faith, and a
man of faith will naturally be a man of prayer. The two are conjoined and
inseparable.
There is no better snapshot of faith in action since the dawn
of human history than Hebrews 11. It is such a rich, deep, and wondrous chapter
as to deserve its own study at some point, but for now, we will have to make do
with a summation. By faith, they did, they asked, they received, they suffered,
they died, they did what seemed impossible to human intellect or logic, and
through it all, not only hoped, but had full assurance that they would receive
an eternal kingdom. Everything they did, what animated them, gave them
boldness, gave them strength, courage, and endurance, was by faith.
The enemy is fully aware of the power of faith. He
understands that faith stirs the heart of God, and by faith, the impossible
becomes possible. I would even go so far as to say the devil understands the
power of faith more than most Christians, and it is why he does his utmost to
sideline, shipwreck, or dampen faith wherever the opportunity arises. If he
can’t shipwreck someone’s faith, he’ll settle for keeping it stagnant, wherein
it doesn’t stretch, it doesn’t grow, but remains in a state of infancy.
The reason for this is obvious enough. It’s far easier to
distract, deceive, manipulate, or lead astray a baby Christian than it is one
who is mature and is anchored in his faith. Anyone with children will tell you
that there comes a point where you no longer have to remind them not to take
candy from strangers, because they’ve grown past that phase. They know not to
do it, and you don’t have to remind them anymore.
It would be an odd thing indeed for a friend of mine to
remind me not to take candy from strangers in my fifties, but not so when you
have a young child who doesn’t yet understand that we live in a world where
dangers abound, and more often than not the predators among us will use
something tempting to the eye to draw them away from the protection of their
parents.
There is a glut of individuals offering spiritual candy just to lure you into their doctrinal van and away from the will of the Father. The list is endless, and each day, some new teaching, practice, or interpretation makes its way to the fore, only to hear about the damage it has caused six months or a year down the line. You may not need reminding, but someone likely does: don’t take the candy, and run away as fast as your feet will carry you!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
Posted on 5 May 2025 | 11:32 am
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