When you search for Me with all your heart...

    In the darkest of moments, it can be so easy to reach out to someone or something to help us through that dark season. For some, it may be at that time that God seems closest. When you realise that your situation is bigger than you - and everyone else - it can be easy to reach for the God who is always there but so often taken for granted. 
    I too have found myself admitting that it is only God who can get me through whatever challenging situation that seems so much greater than me. I think that it is at those times that God gets our fullest attention because we acknowledge what we already know - He is our only hope.
    The next few verses of Psalm 27 (vv. 7-10), can be likened to a plea for help. In verse 7, the word “cry” is not a simple request to the one listening. It almost seems to be made in anguish as the psalmist begs God to hear and to answer him. Can anyone relate? Of course we can. It is in our times of despair and hopelessness that we cry out to God begging Him to intervene in a situation; begging Him to come to our rescue; begging Him to deliver us from a situation that seems destined to overwhelm and destroy us. 
    In verse 8 God encourages the psalmist to seek His face and the psalmist responds that he will. I don’t see this as a lighthearted exchange. God is asking Him to go beyond just a simple prayer and to earnestly pursue Him, to go after His presence. God is not interested in a mild relationship with us but with an intimate one. From his heart the psalmist promises to seek Him. God doesn’t want us to have a religious, superficial experience with Him, but a true, intimate relationship. Jeremiah 29:13-14a says: “And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord…” God wants us to run after Him, He wants us to pursue Him and, when we do, we will not be disappointed. I believe that it is in His presence that big problems become small and insignificant and those negative situations seem like nothing because our focus is on the One who can and will work out any challenge that comes our way. 
    When I look at verse 9, it reminds me of the times when I mess up and I desperately want God to forgive me, to not give up one me. I think everyone can relate. The psalmist acknowledges that he needs God so much that he doesn’t want Him to turn away from him, even when he has messed up. He knows he can’t do it without his God. After all, God has been his faithful helper and support, a sure deliverer when he needed one. He even goes as far to admit that when those closest to him give up on him, God does not give up on him (v.10). In short, the psalmist knows that the One person who will not let Him down is God.
    This psalm as penned by David, is such a transparent description of his life. David knew what it was like to be pursued by enemies and to be rejected and betrayed by his own family. His God was the one sure and reliable person in his life. 
    No matter what you have been through, no matter what you may be going through, God is still the one sure and reliable source in your life. He will never leave you nor forsake you; He will never betray or reject you. When you cry out to Him, He will not turn a deaf ear to you, He will respond even if in His own time and way. He loves you and desires the very best for the one He has created. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is never far away, He is always near, ready to listen to our pleas, ready to come to our aid if we need it. Even when problems are bigger than us, even when everyone else rejects us, God is more than able to deliver. He will never fail us!

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