I arrived at the young lady’s house a bit early, and I was in awe to see her make her way down the stairs in her home. I still remember what she was wearing: blue jeans and a yellow shirt. Her hair was long and flowing, and she looked even more beautiful on that day than the day when we first met.
         As she got into the car she asked, “Is this yours?” “No,” was my barely audible, very reluctant response. I silently considered the consequences of that answer. There went my first and last impression.                 Like most first dates, the conversation was awkward and limited, and that made the drive to the movie theater seem endless. But, I did not care one bit. I was determined to make the most of this date. We finally arrived at the movie theater, ordered our refreshments and took our seats. Initially, I was very pleased with the movie that I had selected, but after a few minutes, I realized that this was probably the worst movie I had ever seen.
         “Oh, no,” I thought, “how is this going to affect the impression I’m trying to make on this young lady?”  Well, she agreed the movie was terrible, so we decided to waive the movie and go to dinner.
           As we made our way to the restaurant, it began to rain.  As I walked in behind her, the unimaginable happened. I slipped on the wet pavement, and I FELL!  Although this was not exactly a matter of life and death in the strictest sense of the phrase, my life flashed before my eyes as my body involuntarily approached the sidewalk for a landing. I remained there for what seemed like an eternity but was actually 1.53 seconds.
         “This is it,” I thought, “she’ll never want to see a klutz like me again.” I had a strange feeling that I was about to make the most unimpressionable first impression in history. I quickly picked myself up and looked around me. I was looking to see who was looking, but no one saw me. 
             There I stood, my pants and shirt were wet from the puddles of water I had fallen in, and my date was walking right in front of me. But she had no idea that I had fallen. I knew then that everything was OK. She didn’t even notice my wet clothes, and I knew that I had increased my chances of seeing her again. I was looking to see if she was looking, but she wasn’t.
             Throughout dinner, I did not say one word about the fall. And that young lady, who is now my wife, did not find out about that fall until several years later.

                                           Hot Pursuit of God
         Pursuing a relationship with God plays a significant role in the quality of your life. That is why you must diligently seek God with all your heart. As you seek Him, God will reveal Himself to you, and you will see His hand operating in your life. Indeed, spending time with God gives you the tools you need to receive His blessings, His insight, His revelation and His friendship.
         Many of you are eagerly awaiting God to come into your lives. You have made up your mind that you are going to wait until He does. Problem is, though, all you are doing is waiting.  If you do not pray consistently; if you do not operate in faith; and if you are not obedient, you’ll be waiting a long, long time. God is a God of action. He is constantly watching and blessing and listening and talking to His children. Yes, He is able, but He is also an enabler.  He has enabled you to seek Him. You must make the effort to find Him.
      
Consider Job’s approach to looking for God:

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:”
(Job 23:8 - 9)

             Job literally looked everywhere for God! He even tried to catch Him where He works. He looked in all directions --- north, south, east and west. The Bible tells us that He searched diligently for Him but could not see Him. However, Job was not discouraged.  He kept right on praying and seeking God. He was in hot pursuit of God!
             Everything that you will ever need in life is tied up with seeking God, for He will only prosper and reward those who are looking for Him. The heart of God yearns to be intimate with the people who He created for His glory. God loves the world and He wants to establish a personal relationship with all its people.
           God wants you to seek His face. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (II Chroncles 7:14 NKJV). No one has ever seen the literal face of God and lived, yet God still wants you to seek Him. To seek God’s face means to require His presence. It means to inquire of Him. It means to diligently pursue Him. It means to go after Him. It means to vigorously reach out for Him.

It means to be in hot pursuit of Him.

 
Looking Over Heaven’s Balcony
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14: 2 -3)

             God so badly wants people who will diligently seek Him that He is constantly looking to see who’s looking. God’s eyes are scanning the whole earth to show Himself strong to those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. If your heart is perfect toward God, that means you are walking in the Word. That means you are seeking God and letting His Word constantly renew your mind. You have established your faith in God.           Every good gift is from above. Every good thing that God has is yours. There is not one good thing He will withhold from you. However, there are a lot of situations in which you may force God to withhold your desires either because you are not walking uprightly or because what you are searching for is not good.  
             Search your heart and make sure that your intentions are right. If you are walking uprightly and your intentions are good, you have only to be patient. This is your insurance from heaven. You serve such a loving God that you can be sure that anything He grants you will be good to you and good for you. Trust in Him. God knows what is best for you, and it will be to your advantage; it will make you happy, it will be a great blessing; and it will delight and please your heart.
            In this world of continuous distractions and extreme impatience, God is looking to see if someone, anyone, on this earth cares enough about Him to seek Him out. As you will discover in a later chapter, the benefits of looking for God are beyond measure.  But if God remains hidden in your life, those benefits will not be realized. However, if you seek God, He will show up, and He will daily load you with benefits.

                               God, What Are You Looking At?

The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.        (Psalm 33: 13 - 15)

             If we only realized how many times God anxiously looks over heaven’s balcony to see if anyone is looking for Him, we would pursue Him more diligently. Let’s look at some instances when God’s eyes were observing and recording the actions of the people:

1. Jesus sat at the treasury, and looked.

2. Jesus looked and declared that the fields were white as snow.

3. Jesus looked at the multitudes as though they were sheep without a shepherd.

4. God looked for a man to stand in the gap and found none.

5. God looked for a man after His own heart and found King David.

6. God looked for a man He could bless and redeem, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

7. God looked for a righteous man and found Noah, who did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

         God peers over His balcony and looks out at instances such as these. Likewise, He is looking out at your life. What will God see? Will He look and see the by-products of your lifestyle and look away? Or, will He look to see if you are standing in the gap and discover that you are not? Or, will He look and see that you are after His own heart, and you are doing that which is right in His eyes?

                                       As Long As You Seek Him
           I am reminded of the story of King Uzziah in II Chronicles 26. He was crowned King of Jerusalem when he was 16, and he reigned 52 years. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
             God is so willing to bless you that He will make you prosper. He will make you lie down in green pastures, and He will cause your futile efforts to make a 180 degree turn and prosper anyway. Uzziah was living under that force. The point is, as long as you seek Him, God will cause everything that you do to prosper. Your prosperity is tied into seeking God.
             You see, before you can ask anything of God, you have to know Him. Before you can get to know God, you must seek Him. Once you find Him, you and everything that you touch will prosper and flourish.
             God greatly helped King Uzziah. When he warred against the Philistines, God helped him defeat them. The Ammonites gave him many gifts, and his name was spread abroad. The Word says he strengthened himself exceedingly and on a continual basis.  How do you think King Uzziah strengthened himself? He sought God.
             Uzziah was prosperous. He had cattle in the mountains and in the plains. He invented weapons to use in warfare. He prevailed over all his enemies. Uzziah was prosperous because he sought God. As long as you seek God, He will marvelously help you. You will prevail over all the weapons and over all the enemies that come against you.   
           However, after all the success and the marvelous help Uzziah had received from God, he became haughty.  He transgressed against God. This is a sure-fire method of losing all that God has given you. Life’s greatest tragedy occurs when you make a determination to learn of God and to seek Him, and once He rewards you, you give all the glory to yourself. To God and God only be the glory! Great things He has done!

                 Summary --- Looking To See Who’s Looking

1.   To seek God’s face means to require His presence, to inquire of Him, to diligently pursue Him, to vigorously reach out for Him, to be in hot pursuit of Him.

2.   The degree of your pursuit and the diligence that you expend in establishing a relationship with God will determine your quality of life.

3.   God sincerely desires for His people to seek Him --- so much so that He is constantly looking to see who’s looking for Him.

4.   Prosperity overtakes you when you seek God.