2 He Already Seeks You
HE ALREADY
SEEKS YOU
God is an intruder.
He encroaches, presumes, invades, and infringes. He crashes the party. Tears aside curtains. Throws open locked doors. Hits the light switch in dark rooms. Pulls the fire alarm in stuffy, sacrosanct hallways.
He intruded primeval chaos and brought forth light, beauty, order, and life.
He presumed upon the life of a middle-aged man in the town of Ur, and brought forth a nation.
He trespassed on the cozy security of the Canaanites, smug behind their high walls of stone.
He advanced upon the lofty chambers of kings with feisty, finger-wagging prophets who called down judgment.
He was the unwelcomed guest at Belshazzar’s feast, writing doom on the wall while the revelers gagged on their wine.
God intruded the womb of a virgin. He stormed Satan’s kingdom on a Christmas night in Bethlehem. He talked out of turn in Judah and Galilee with words that “no man spoke before.” He crashed the temple courtyards, overturning tables and kicking commerce out the door with a strong arm and a whip of cords.
God overstepped the realm of death itself, stealing its banner and crushing its lord. And in the Most Holy Place of the temple, He audaciously tore the veil from top to bottom.
And in the end, He will once again intervene in history, judging the nations, banishing sin and death, and setting His throne upon earth even as He rules in heaven.
God is a glorious intruder in my life, my thoughts, my pain, sorrow, and brokenness. The Spirit of the Lord even invades me, taking up residence in my very body. His Word is a razor-edged sword, piercing my complacency and dividing my soul and spirit. He boldly intrudes into my sin, calling it what it is, challenging me to leave it behind.
What can we do but marvel in speechless wonder at our powerful and almighty God—who, incidentally, has every right to intrude. After all, can the owner of the house really “intrude” when he sets his foot inside his own door? Can a king be tabbed “interfering” when he visits the subjects of his own realm? Can a craftsman be thought a “trespasser” when he puts a sharp knife to his own stick of wood?
God, an intruder? From His perspective, never. From our point of view? It happens all the time. Whether He encroaches with a gentle, “still, small” reminder or in sudden, devastating judgment.
And that’s one reason why I have written this little book. So that you might understand that as you seek God, He is already seeking you. As you reach out for Him, He is already reaching for you. God cares enough to step into our lives … and sometimes when we least expect it. We dare not think that God is absent or daydreaming. He’s not tucked away in some far corner of the universe—uncaring, unfeeling, unthinking, and uninvolved. Count on it, God wants intimacy with you more than you could ever desire intimacy with Him.
Thank His holy name that He intrudes in our lives!
A Step Closer
“You can throw the whole weight of
your anxieties upon him,
for you are his personal concern.”
1 PETER 5:7, PHILLIPS
Day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment,
God monitors your thoughts, your concerns, your anxieties,
and the deep-down fears no one else knows but you.
He is not passive but active in your life,
whether you acknowledge His hand on you or not.
Invite Him into your thoughts, your plans,
and concerns, and, as He says in Revelation 3:20,
“I will come in.”