Seek and Ye Shall Find

One of my favourite lines in the bible.  It is so simple and yet its implications are as limitless as the very universe that cries out God's name!

Duane said something profound the other day.  We were discussing the incredible parallels between the stories of the old testament and how they are like transparencies that you could lay over other stories including those in the new testament.. almost as though the "old" was a prophetic unfolding of a history that would reveal itself over and over again.

More specifically, we were reading in Genesis about Abraham (or back then, Abram) and his wife Sarai going into Egypt.  Pharoah took Sarai as one of his wives which resulted in plagues and other catastrophes until finally Pharoah realized that Sarai was Abram's wife and gave her back along with many treasures of Egypt.  Hmmm, sounds kinda like when the Hebrews were taken as slaves into Egypt, plagues and many other catastrophes were cast until finally God's chosen people were set free and made rich by the treasures of Egypt! 

The depth of the bible is so overlooked!  Even when one purposely seeks to better understand it.  Our own revelations typically come from the insight of others which to me, beautifully confirms that we ARE all made in his image and only together can the fullness of that image be revealed!

I think of the countless times I did not like what I was reading in the old testament and happily flipped over to the "new" testament thinking "phew... good thing that God doesn't apply here!"

But what did God say?  I AM CONSTANT AND UNCHANGING.

Yeah, but I would read some of those stories and cringe that my loving God would want such horrible things to happen!  It was very easy for me to close the bible and not want to go back thinking that what I had read and what I had interpreted was the whole story...

How egotistical of me!!

The layers are slowly beginning to unfold and we are learning that when the surface seems ugly, there is typically something very beautiful hidden either within the message or how God ends up using that ugliness to turn it into something life-giving, or to prepare us to recognize the pattern.  If you seek the good and are patient enough to wait for others to contribute to its revelation of its truth, you will always find it!

It's so easy to narrow our vision to the immediate... what is before us right at this moment... that we forget the bigger picture and the critical role the "immediate" plays in it, ugly or not.  In labour, if I focused only on the pain and cried out to God "why is it your will that you want me to suffer like this??" I would be closing myself to seeing that in that pain, new life was brought forth.

And really, who values that which is just handed to them??  The more work you put into something, the more valuable it becomes to you.  How brilliantly designed are those nine months?  Ballooning out, peeing when you least expect, watching your body transform into anything but sexy (although beautiful in its own way), finally understanding all those hemorrhoid commercials you saw as a child, and buying shoes two sizes too big to fit your swollen feet... and then hours of intense pain... no wonder we feel rather attached to our children when they come into this world!! 

But I digress...

Where was I?  Oh yes, seek and ye shall find... To sum this up, I find that this line applies to absolutely everything in my life right down to what I seek through my thoughts!  When I am looking for someone to disappoint me, I always find it.  If I look for where I am "deprived", I always find it.  If I look for the areas in which I am a failure, oh boy do I find them!  But when I look for my blessings, I find their abundance all around me!  When I seek the gifts God has granted me, I can find them.  When I seek the good or the "breath of God" in everyone, I always find it!  Yes, even in the ones who cause me the most grief!

So what will you seek in your own life today?  Be conscious of that, because I guarantee you, you will find it!  And on that note, I am going to go outside with my camera on this beautiful sabbath day and seek those little details of our world that often go overlooked.  It is a great exercise to go outside and purposely look for the "beautiful" all around you.  And I will share my findings with you by inserting some pics within this post.  May you choose to have the eyes to see all the blessings that surround you today, tomorrow and always!