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You must be like that coyote. Though God may elude you, you must go after Him. Your desire to find God must be so strong that you are literally in hot pursuit of Him. You may be smashed, slammed, clubbed, beaten, kicked, pushed, run over by trains, laughed at and beep-beeped after you turn every corner, but you must continue in hot pursuit, looking for God all over until you find Him. You may even find yourself falling into a seemingly bottomless, cavernous gorge, but don’t be discouraged. You WILL find God. And when you do, He will reward you with His presence.
The definition of seek is “to desire, to reach out at, to go after.” You have to desire God. You must vigorously reach out to Him. For some, He will not easily be found. But remember, He is not lost, you are. Your search for God is really a search for your spiritual home. God is home to you, and you’ve got to get home. He is your place of refuge and your salvation. You must diligently seek to find God.
Have you ever gotten lost while driving? One of the first things you learn from being lost is where not to go. You find out from being lost exactly where your destination is not, and you know not to go there again. Eventually, you learn exactly where you are going. Through experience, you learn which roads to take, which turns to make and which landmarks to look for. After a while, getting there takes less time, and you can easily go back again. Why? Because after diligently trying to find a location, you finally got there. Because of your efforts, you know where to go AND you know where not to go.
This is important because as you seek God, you also learn where He is not. Through His Word, He tells you exactly which roads to take, which turns to make and gives you signs to look for. He wants you to know how to find Him. It’s true, He has the power to just pluck you up out of your bad circumstances, but if you do not know who you are in Him or where He is, you might wander off and wind up anywhere. So He makes you look for Him so that once you find Him, you’ll know why and you’ll know how to get back to Him again. God is truly amazing!
Follow Your Heart
Jesus’ disciples marvelled at how the multitudes followed after and sought Him. Their search was literally a physical one. Yours, however, is a spiritual search. I’m sure that with the tenacity with which the multitudes followed Jesus, the disciples really wanted to say, “Jesus, the multitudes are really seeking You and they are seeking You by any means necessary.”
The people in the multitudes were sick, healthy, rich, poor, hungry and filled, so whatever their need, they sought after God by any means necessary. Jesus encountered people from all walks of life --- the rich young ruler, the beggars in the marketplace, the woman who touched the hem of His garment, Nicodemus the Pharisee. They were from all walks of life, but their common denominator was their determination to seek and to find God. This is a message to you. There are some unconventional ways that you’re going to have to institute to go after Him. Even Herod desired to see Jesus. The unconventional route he chose to follow was to issue a death warrant, but He still sought Him. And, likewise, you will seek God by any means necessary.
Prayer Changes Things
Why was Jesus so hard to find? He was hiding in His prayer closet. Just prior to the disciples reporting to Jesus that all men were seeking Him, the Bible records that Jesus arose a great while before day and departed into a solitary place where He prayed. So, as a result of Jesus seeking God, men were seeking Him. A powerful connection is formed when you seek God. When someone is in trouble and they need a prayer warrior, if you have a powerful connection with God, they will seek you.
God wants to see just how creative and unconventional you are in your effort to seek Him. In Mark 2:1-4, Jesus was preaching at a house in Capernaum. There were so many people in the house who wanted to hear the Word of God, that there wasn’t any room for anyone else to enter through the door. Even the overflow room was full. However, there was one man who was determined to see Jesus by any means necessary. His method was so unconventional, unheard of, and unthought of that it caught Jesus’ eye.
There were four men who were bringing in another man stricken with palsy. When they could not enter the house because of the crowd of people, they hoisted him onto the roof, tore a hole in the roof and lowered the man to where Jesus was standing. And, of course, when Jesus saw their faith, He forgave the man’s sins and healed him.
Can you imagine those men approaching the ushers with a sick patient on their shoulders saying, “Excuse me, we have a sick gentleman here, we want to see Jesus.” The ushers may have turned them away, but that did not turn away their faith. They went to back door and could not enter there. They went to the basement and that door was locked. They tried all entrances but none worked. Finally, they tried a window, but there were even people blocking that entrance. The man sick with palsy did not care one bit how he got into the house; he was determined to get to Jesus by any means necessary.
Looking up from his hospital bed, the man declared, “I got it --- the roof. Try the roof.”
There were no ushers on the roof.
“I don’t care if it kills me,” the man thought, “I must see Jesus.”
What Does Faith Look Like?
As those carrying him began to chip away at the roof, the people inside and Jesus, Himself, noticed bits of plaster and wood falling from the ceiling. And, just as everyone looked up, they saw a rope lowering a hospital bed. The meeting stopped for just a moment. The quiet rumble of the crowd faded abruptly. Even Jesus stopped. And when Jesus saw their faith, He declared the man healed. That man did not have to say one word, but what Jesus saw in Him spoke volumes. If you just remain quiet, without bragging about your faith, Jesus will see it and He will meet your need.
Go after God to find His will for your life. The man who was determined to see Jesus went in through the roof on a bed and left out the front door walking. The same man the ushers wouldn’t allow to enter walked out healed. All the ushers could do was look at him in wonder and amazement. He was able to strut out the same doors he couldn’t enter. I’m sure he said to the ushers, “There was one seat in the house you did not know about, and that seat was the throne of mercy, which I approached boldly. Hallelulah!!”
God works best when the odds are against you, and you have been shunned by society. When you circumstances say that nothing can be done for you, God says, “With me all things are possible.” Seek God by any means necessary. Be as creative as possible. When you do something unusual in order to attract God’s attention, God will notice it. It is important to seek God with all you have. Don’t stop. Don’t waver. Keep coming. If your desire is to reach God, the opinions of your family members don’t matter. The condition of your finances doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except the end result --- you will find God.
Summary --- By Any Means Necessary
1. Your desire to find God must be so strong that you are literally in hot pursuit of Him.
2. Depending on your level of need and the depth of your desire for God, you may need to pursue God in an unconventional, unheard of and unthought of manner. You may need to pursue Him by any means necessary.
3. Without your speaking a word, God can look at your faith and determine the level of your belief in Him.
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