Keep Searching

"Nothing is [so closely] covered up that it will not be revealed, or hidden that it will not be known."---Luke 12:2 (AMP)




"As long as one keeps searching, the answers come."---Joan Baez







Here's a quick thought. (No, for real.)




A couple of days ago, I was visiting a friend of mine at work. Someone brought her some ice cream, but failed to bring a spoon. On her hunt for one, someone told her where she could find some. A few moments later she said, "There are no spoons in there", but "something" told her to search again---this time a little harder and with more patience. (James 1:2-4) "Oh, there it goes. It was right in front of me."




She saw the look on my face. "Girl, if you write about this, just make sure that you don't say my name." I will honor that request, but her discernment (Proverbs 2:2-7) was on point!




"That's a devotional right there, Ms. 'Name I Won't Say, " I said. "I wonder just how many things are right before our eyes but we don't see."




Shellie, that's definitely something for you to think about.




Perhaps that's why God instructed men to write visions (Habakkuk 2:3) and not simply what they saw before them. Yes, there is such a thing as vision in the context of physical eyesight, but when God calls us to be visionaries, he is speaking more from the definition of "an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the influence of a divine or other agency." He is encouraging us to use our faith (Hebrews 11:1) to go beyond the present into our futures.




That got me to thinking/wondering/asking/praying, "God, I wonder how many things I need/want that are right before me that I don't 'see'."




You'd be surprised.




I bet. See, the thing about my friend and her "spoon dilemma" was that when she first looked in the drawer, although someone who had already been in there had seen the spoons----which is why they knew to tell her some were there (bookmark that)---she didn't notice them. In her frustration of wanting her desire met, however, she went back. This time, she had to move some things around, she had to search, she had to dig...she had to prove to herself that 1) she really trusted the person who told her about the spoon's location and 2) that she really wanted the spoon in the first place (a whole 'nother message within itself). I don't know about you, but that puts a whole new spin on Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV):




"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."




I also love how the Amplified Version puts it:




"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened."

While Christ was on the earth, there were several times when, after performing a miracle, he would say, "Your faith has made you well." Deeper yet, there are recorded instances (Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42) where someone was sick and their answer, Christ himself, was right before them. Sure, they could see him, but it was in asking him, seeking him, knocking upon his heart's door, so-to-speak, that their requests were granted. It wasn't good enough to merely want what they desired; they had to be visionaries and believe for it...doing whatever it took, based on the Spirit's unction (Proverbs 3:6), to make it happen.

So, what "spoon" are you wanting right now? Have you looked and given up, assuming that it's not where you thought God told you it was? Well, two questions you might want to ask is 1) do you trust him enough to believe/accept that where he's leading is where you need to go (because he's already been there---Hebrews 13:8) and 2) do you want it bad enough to do some of your own "moving things around" (and quite possibly OUT OF THE WAY), searching and digging so that in time, with a little effort, it will be revealed?




Shoot, just answers to those two questions alone should provide you with some insight about your desires and your proximity to them. If your answer is "no", you probably don't want them as bad as you might think you do, so stop stressing yourself. Focus on something else.




But if it's "yes", the good news is that you're probably closer to those things than you might think. Remember what the "spoon locater" told you...be patient...dig deeper...KEEP SEARCHING.




Remember, he wouldn't tell you to "go there" if he hadn't been there, wherever it is, before.




Something that should be a comfort to us all.




©Shellie R. Warren/2008