Unconditional Seeking

 Earnestly seeking God in every situation is a lot harder than it sounds.  Sure, it's easy to look for Him when things are going good because you can see His blessings all around you.  And I'll even say it's easy to seek HIm when things are going wrong because you're looking for a way out, or in some cases, even trying to figure out what He's going to do with the situation you're currently in.  But it's the time in between when it's the hardest time to seek Him.  For me, it's like I constantly feel in limbo or I'm getting caught up in the world around me - that's when seeking is the hardest.  It's easy for me to forget to seek God when life is mediocre.  Probably because when things are good, I'm thanking HIm and looking for the next blessing.  And when things are bad, I'm looking for glimpses of God's promise, or just looking for a way out of the pit period.  But when life is just so-so, it almost feels like there is no reason to earnestly seek God - which is absolutely crazy but that's the lie Satan and this world feed us.


  The last part of Psalm 63:1 says, "my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."  This world is a dry, weary, and desolate place where spiritual nurturing is concerned.  Jesus says in John that anyone who drinks the water He gives to them will not thirst and it will become "a spring of water welling up to eternal life".  If we are of this world, we are going to thirst to death.  


  A couple of years ago, I thought God had completely given up on me.  I had become totally immersed in what this world could offer me so I stopped seeking God and His plan for my life. I figured He was done with me and a "screw-up" like me could never be used by God.  To begin with, I was content with just believing in God and not pushing my faith any more.  I was at church every time the doors were open, going on missions trips, but I was an empty shell of a person.  Only a very few people noticed, but I knew it too.  Then the thing of this world that I thought would last forever disappeared.  That's when I finally realized how miserable I really was and how thirsty I was for an eternal, non-failing, unconditional, true love.


  Seeking God earnestly should not be a conditional practice - it should be an everyday, every situation desire and necessity.  How awesome would it be if we all looked at even menial jobs as a work of God?  How do you know that a smile on your face while you're filing papers might brighten the day of that lady at the desk across from you, who just had her husband walk away?  Or maybe a positive attitude might show the angry young man you see everyday that not all Christians are religious hypocrites like he always thought.  It's the time in between the good and the bad that really matters.  The Bible doesn't say seek me in the good times or the bad - it's unconditional.




This is a song by Francesca Battistelli called Time in Between.  I'm not crazy about the video, but at least you can listen to it and then read the lyrics under it.  I hope it touches you as much as it did me.

You were there when Your Father said
"Let there be light"
You obeyed when He whispered,
"Son, you have to leave tonight"
To spend nine months in a mother's womb
Three days in a borrowed tomb


But it's the time in between
That brings me to my knees
Knowing you came for me
And all that I can't be
I'm amazed, so amazed
And I thank You for the time in between.


Don't take much for this crazy world 
To rob me of my peace
And the enemy of my soul
Says You're holding out on me
So I stand here lifting empty hands
For You to fill me up again


But it's the time in between
That I fall down to my knees 
Waiting on what You'll bring
And the things that I can't see
I know my song's incomplete
Still I'll sing in the time in between


So many ways
Your love has saved the day
And I'm grateful for them all


But it's the time in between
The middle of two thieves
That says everything
It's the reason I believe
I'm amazed, so amazed
And I thank you for the time in between
Oh Lord, I thank you for the time in between.