Why God Requires Us to Do More Than Simply Seek Him

I know that faith is a real place because I live there. God wants you to be located at the address of faith in Him.

If you have chosen to live outside the parameters of glorious faith, it will be impossible to please Him.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6, NKJV).

Never make the mistake of thinking you are the only person in all of history who has faced impossible circumstances. Hebrews chapter 11 honors men and women who lived at the address of faith at their specific time in history. Although faced with horrific circumstances and events, they held on tightly to their mandate from command central in heaven.

Sarah went through menopause before she conceived a baby! Now that is what the medical community would label “impossible” and “ridiculous.” Sarah was an old woman who in the natural had no reason to believe she would ever give birth to a bouncing baby boy.

But God spoke to Sarah and her husband when they were well past the age of changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night to feed a wailing baby or potty training a toddler. Our glorious and powerful God was not limited by the demise of Sarah’s reproductive system. There are now millions and millions of people in the Jewish nation simply because one elderly woman considered Him faithful who had made a promise to her.

Sarah did not focus on her unproductive womb, the ancient date on her birth certificate or the futility and improbability of her circumstances. Instead, she wrapped her heart and mind around the God who had promised a baby.

“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise” (Heb. 11:11, NLT).

God rewards people who, like Sarah, diligently seek Him regardless of the pleasure or the pain of the events they are experiencing. We all possess the same promises, the same faith, the same power, the same Holy Spirit and the same Jesus.

If you desperately desire the reward of God, then you will diligently seek Him and Him alone. That’s it, my friend; you must have faith. You must believe He exists to reward those who seek Him above all else.

We must do more than simply seek Him; we must diligently seek Him. This word diligently in the Greek means “one who seeks something so passionately and determinedly that he literally exhausts all his power in the search.” Diligence is not only required in the kingdom of God but it is also a requirement for any avenue of greatness. Ask Olympic athletes, successful moms, award-winning gardeners, concert pianists or research scientists about diligence. I can assure you that if you seek the Lord, you will find Him.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6, NKJV).

God is not playing hide-and-seek. He is just one whispered prayer away. When you draw near to God, He will draw near to you (Jas. 4:8).

Living in that place of stubborn faith must not be a minor issue in your life. It must capture your complete and undivided attention every day of your life. The outcome of every other area of your life will be determined by this one decision—will you be diligent in your faith or not?

The challenge of being diligent in one’s faith is scripted in several daily disciplines:

• Your eyesight: You must see what others do not see.
• Your embraced beliefs: You must believe what others refuse to believe.
• Your mouth: You must use your mouth as a tool that breaks through the seen to the unseen. You must confess with your mouth what you have not yet seen in the natural.
• Be stubborn: You must stay insistent in your resolve to push the powers of hell aside.

“For the word of God will never fail” (Luke 1:37, NLT).

What you choose to see and believe by faith is what you will receive. Faith looks at a desert and sees a luscious and vibrant garden springing up in that very place. Faith looks at an overgrown and expansive wilderness and sees a roadway to destiny in its place. Faith looks at nothing and sees everything. {eoa}

Carol McLeod is a bestselling author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor.

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