Looking For God

There is a story of a woman who lost her husband of many years very suddenly. She was extremely distraught and very lonely, so at the advice of some friends, she decided to get a pet. She went to the pet store and looked at all the dogs, cats and other animals and finally decided to take home a talking parrot. She was sure that a conversing bird would be just the right fix for her loneliness; but after a week or more, the bird had not said a word, so she went back to the pet store.

The clerk informed her that she needed a ladder for the bird to climb upon and if he had a ladder, he would begin to talk. She bought the ladder, returned home and placed in the cage. Another week or so went by with still not a peep from the bird, so she went back to the store. Seems that the clerk failed to mention that she needed to place a mirror at one end of the ladder so the bird would see himself, be content and then, begin to speak. She purchased the mirror and home she went. After another week of silence, she returned to the store, visibly upset that the bird that she bought for companionship was still not talking. The clerk asked if she have a swing in the cage upon which the bird could perch. Her response was an emphatic, NO! He assured her that if she bought the swing and placed it in the cage, the bird would talk and talk and talk. She bought the swing…..

But, the bird did not talk; rather, IT DIED!!!! So, she gathered the cage and her dead bird and stormed back to the pet store. She told the clerk that she had done everything and bought everything that he had suggested, yet the bird would not talk and now, it was dead. The clerk asked her if the bird ever said anything during the month plus that she owned it. …Her reply, “Well, right before he died, he said, “Don’t they have any food down at that pet store?”

You see, the woman missed the obvious. She was so busy trying to make the bird happy so it would talk that she failed to give it one of the things it needed most to survive...

You and I are a lot like that woman in our daily walk with the Lord. We are so busy trying to “do” for the Lord in service and activity that we miss one of the most essential reasons that we are alive ….our fellowship with the Father.

From the onset of creation, God has been about the union and fellowship that He desires with His creation. In Genesis, chapter 3, verse 8, we read, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening, and the man and woman hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God in the trees of the garden.”

Now God was not out walking for the exercise; He was seeking to spend some quality time with His creation, but their sin had broken that fellowship and they hid themselves from Him. All that God had in store for them was undone in that act of disobedience.

The same is true for us today. God has so much He wants to give us, so much that He wants to accomplish through us; but that bond…that fellowship must remain unbroken if we are to truly live for Jesus. Christ said it best when He said, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”

God wants to give you His best! He wants to know you intimately and for you to know His heart and mind. But, if your focus is on reputation rather than relationship, on activity rather than an aspiration to belong to Him, on situations rather than substance….then, just like our widow in the story above,
YOU WILL MISS THE OBVIOUS…..

You were made by God….for God …to serve God …to worship God, and most of all, to belong to God in a close relationship that is found in His Son, Jesus Christ.

I trust you are seeking His face today…I know He is looking for you.

Growing daily in Him,
WPQ