BE STILL

Spend 2 minutes in stillness and silence with God.

SCRIPTURE

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

DEVOTION

As we begin on our journey of thriving with God, take a stroll with me down memory lane. Imagine you are outside on a playground. Yes, a playground! Imagine you're standing on pine needles as a soft breeze blows gently across your face. The air is filled with a symphony of laughter and screams. You can smell the freshly cut grass that has so effortlessly made its light green stains on your jeans. You can taste your own salty sweat, slowly dripping from your forehead over your lips.

You cover your eyes with your hands and giggle as you begin to count to 10. Your heart beats faster, your ears perk up, and you can barely contain your eagerness to uncover your eyes and start running. You finally finish counting, shout "Ready or not, here I come!" and excitedly seek all who are hiding.

Whew, what a time!

Hide-and-seek as a child was filled with lots of excitement, awareness, passion, and joy. When the Word says to seek God with all our hearts, that is the kind of seeking we want to do. We want to seek Him with zeal, with longing, and with all our attention. Can you guess what the best part about seeking God is? He isn't even hiding from us! We don't have to jump through hoops, sweat, bleed, trip, or run like crazy to find Him. He is always there - He is just waiting for us to turn our hearts and minds towards Him.

Let's go back to our playground example. Imagine that after counting to 10 you opened your eyes and the person you were seeking was directly in front of you! All you had to do was take one step.

That one step is all God is asking for. Whether it be praying, opening our Word, watching a sermon, attending an event, or cracking open a devotional like this one - trust that when we take that step He is right there, waiting for us with open arms.

WRITE IT OUT

What would it look like for you to seek God with all your heart? Get specific and personal!

Is there anything in the way of you seeking God in the way you desire? If so, write down

one action step you can take to remove that barrier.

PRAY IT OUT

Father God, I love You. I thank You for always being there when I seek Your face. I'm so grateful You do not hide from me in my times of distress, and that as I draw near to You, you draw near to me. I admit there were times my flesh got the best of me, and I strayed away from You. I confess there were times I engaged with You out of routine instead of out of love.

Today, I ask that You create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Give me a heart that hungers and thirsts for Your righteousness. Help me to seek You and talk to You before I talk to man and seek the things of this world. Reveal to me anything that is keeping me from being diligent in my time with You, and Holy Spirit give me a strategy to navigate in the wisest way possible. As the deer pants for water, my soul pants for You, o God! In Jesus' Name, Amen