Daily Devotional, Aug 26, 2023 Endless Questions

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13

Every parent can relate to the endless questions of children during a road trip. The most common of all — across all cultures — is the question “are we there yet?” Most parents are usually very patient to answer the first three times this question is thrown during the ride. The next several times though could elicit different responses depending on the energy and patience levels left in the parent’s tank. For me, I sometimes utter “we will get there in a bit,” sometimes I try to say how many kilometers it would take, sometimes I try to be creative saying it is two short naps away.

Have we ever thought of how the Lord thinks whenever we ask that same question? Adults like us may not verbalize these questions but we have it in our hearts and minds. How far should we go to reach the life we are dreaming of? We also ask ourselves how long will it take for us to get out of the crisis we are currently facing. We even postpone happiness until the time we think we achieved our dreams.

The good news is unlike us parents who get tired of answering the repeated questions of “how long,” “how far” and “till when” our Heavenly Father longs to hear us ask Him these questions. Yes, He might not respond right away, or answer in the manner we want him to, but He wants us to seek Him. Acts 17:27 states “God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.”

And as we ask Him, we should be patient to wait for His answer, and hold on to His promises that He will hear us. In the Second Book of Chronicles, the Lord promised that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 14:27.

But how do we know God’s answer, you ask? Well, we should have the spiritual discipline to intentionally and consistently seek Him in our lives everyday. We will only know His voice if we are acquainted with Him and His ways. Like a normal human relationship, we will get to know a person more if we talk to her everyday, and listen to what she has to say. So if we pray everyday during our quiet time, devote time to reading the Scriptures, reflect on them, and study them on our own and with fellow believers, we will slowly know His voice. His will is all according to His commands so if we keep walking next to Him, we will know if He is the one talking. In John Chapter 10 He said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:22). Time will come we will recognize His voice.

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to read Lamentations 3:19-33 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: Are you being impatient with your life situation right now? Have you asked God to help you with it?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you for being the merciful and patient God that you are. Thank you for hearing me out and allowing me to seek you. May I get to know you more as I strive to intentionally pray to you and read your words. Amen.