Is It Possible to Seek God Diligently and Not Find Him?

Happy Friday!! We made it to the end of the week. It’s almost the weekend!!! First, I just want to say this blog post today is inspired by the Bible Cafe on Instagram hosted by Pastor Dave Therrien @therrien6034, New Hope Christian Church. He has been taking us through Proverbs 1 this week talking about wisdom. Whilst Pastor Dave has been talking about wisdom in verses 32 and 33 (I encourage you to listen to the past week, they are five short videos). Pastor Dave goes on to say we need to be intentional about doing what God says to “be at ease from the dread of evil.” It’s a promise if we are intentional about doing what God says? (which made me think, “am I setting out each day to intentionally do what God says?”, that’s a discussion for another day)

After reading verses 32 and 33, verse 28 caught my eye;

²⁸ “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
³² For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.” (NKJV).

(seriously, listen today’s video and what Pastor Dave says the Bible says about complacency)

So this reminded me of last week’s post and the one before that about seeking God wholeheartedly, diligently. The Bible says we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). But, verse 28 – “… They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. That just smacked me between the eyes. Proverbs 9:10 came to mind – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” We need to have fear, a reverent fear of God, THAT is the beginning of wisdom. We must CHOOSE to fear God. My fear of God isn’t one that makes me run from Him. It’s not a fear if I mess up He’s gonna be mad me and punish me. He’ll correct me and get me back on track with love, grace and mercy. My fear is fear one that is in awe of Him. He is in control, He died for me, for us, God rose Jesus from the dead for me, for us, so that we could have eternity with Him. God is sovereign, there is no other like Him, He has NO equal! Choosing to fear the Lord, the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 2:4-6

⁴ “If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
⁵ Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;”

We can be diligent and intentional in our search but with out fear of the Lord, we ain’t gonna find Him. We ain’t gonna find wisdom and understanding without a reverent fear of the Lord. It comes down to choosing. Choosing to fear the Lord. Choosing to be intentional about seeking Him and doing what He says. There are only good things that come from choosing to fear the Lord. Diligent, intentional, wholeheartedly, seek, choose, we will gain wisdom and understanding.