1 Chronicles 22: 19
Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
I want to tell you a little story today. It is about when I set my heart and soul to finding the Lord and the effect that had. It was July 2005. I was very frustrated at not being able to hear the Lord clearly. I was getting dressed one morning and had Christian programming on the TV in the other room. I heard this minister talking about when he first got saved. In the middle of his story he told about something he heard God speak to him in those early days. He was newly saved, a baby in the things of God and yet God spoke to Him. Worse yet, he heard and recognized God’s voice. That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I was incensed that a babe in the woods should hear God’s voice so clearly while I struggled. In no uncertain terms, I told God what I thought, and I did not mince words.
There was a conference coming up in Anaheim. I knew God would be there, so I bought a plane ticket, made a hotel reservation and put God on notice that I was “going to get Him.”
Now when we talk about setting one’s heart and soul, or seeking God with all our strength brother, that described me. I was determined to go to Anaheim and get God. I pursued Him. The result? I sought Him and He found me. I went to get Him, but He got me. He must have been laughing in heaven at my threat to “get Him.”
The end of the story is that I came away from that conference having seen the Holy Spirit with my own eyes, had a prophetic dream, had prophetic words pouring from my mouth and more, more than I can describe. My life changed dramatically because of that event. You can imagine that it would. It turned out that God wasn’t holding out on me. Instead, I had a block in my heart that I couldn’t see but which he resolved through the dream. God touched me and it all began because I sought Him with all my heart and soul.
He is a good God, loving and kind. He wants an intimate relationship with you but as I learned during that week in 2005, we are in the driver’s seat. That is why the scriptures tell us to seek Him. He leaves the power in our hands.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul! What does that look like? Well, there must be persistence in it, right? There has to be determined purpose. I didn’t pray just once. I sought Him with absolute determination. And let me say, the rewards have been well worth the search. More than anything, I now know that God is attentive. He is listening to me but also listening for me. He is awaiting the sound of my footsteps approaching His throne room. I know that if I seek Him, I will always find Him. My desire, now, is for each of you to have this same kind of experience or if you have had one, to have another. Seek Him with all your heart, soul and mind and enjoy the rewards.
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