We are going to make a bit of a stretch here. You may have heard this analogy before. With all analogies, there is break down, but for the sake of our later point, this may make sense….
If a man seeks a woman’s hand, it means one thing. If he seeks her face, it means something else. The first is for her body to meet his needs. The second is to revel in the glory of the woman.
The same can be true of our relationship with God. If we are seeking the hand of God – it means one thing. If we are seeking the face of God – it means something very different.
This blog post might help illustrate the point. In it Chevonne Reynolds shares:
A person who seeks God’s face has grown enough in God to understand that God will provide the physical things if we seek him for spiritual things.
When a group of believers are asked to share prayer requests what does it normally look like? It might matter how close the group is to each other. Are they willing to be transparent? Is there a healthy level of intimacy within the group? What we have noticed is that more often than not we are sharing what we seeking from the hand of God. Should that concern us? What does it reveal about us? What does it tell us about our relationship with God and with each other? Is our intimacy strong enough? Does our level of intimacy please God?
When we are in the midst of challenges it can become so easy to rely on our own strength or knowledge or pure grit determination to fight through the battle. In the process we ask God to help us with ‘xyz’ or worse, we don’t invite Him in at all. Maybe not worse, maybe they are both equally deficient.
What would happen if we woke up to the need for a different type of prayer and fellowship?
And so, our gentle challenge.
Lay your needs aside knowing He wants to bless. And instead, starting seeking His face. Seek true intimate relationship with Him. Cry at his feet, wash the tears that fall with your hair. Curl up in a ball on His lap if you need. Let it pour out. Stop being so polite and so refined. Start being real with Him. Start letting God be real with you. Watch how the Spirit moves you. God will guide you to rest.
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)
Moses sought God’s face (Exodus 33: 12-22). And in that process, God promises His rest. Correlation? You bet. What connects the two? The answer lies in verse 14: God’s presence. Seeking His face brings us to sit in His presence which offers promised rest. Rest from the screaming demands of our needs, fears, concerns and everything else that crowds out our Lord in a split second.
What is the ‘important thing’? It is the relationship thing. The being thing. The thing that matters most – seeking the Lord’s face right now.
Will you join us?