Seek The Lord

Lately I have been trying to get into God’s word and grow in wisdom. I’m twenty-eight years old, and in a lot of areas of my life, I still need to grow up. I need the Spirit’s help through the study of the word and prayer.

A couple weeks ago, I was reading in Zephaniah, looking for Biblical wisdom.

This verse jumped off the page:

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. – Zephaniah 2:3

What do I seek?

When I look at the year or month or week ahead of me, what is it that I’m pursuing with my time and energy?

Sometimes I look at the week ahead and simply think about the responsibilities I have. I’m striving to lead my family as a husband and father. That takes intentionality. I’ve got seminary assignments. I’ve got work assignments. I am now an umpire for the local Boys & Girls Club softball league. I’ve got students that I’m meeting with for discipleship. I’ve got upcoming D-Now speaking engagements.

I’m seeking a lot of earthly things.

Many of those things are good things.

Obviously being a God-honoring spouse and father is important.

Doing my school work and work work for the glory of God is important.

But what is it that I’m chasing?

Without intentionality, a week can go by with no real growth in my walk with God.

To avoid this, I need to apply that verse from Zephaniah to my life.

Seek the Lord.

How can I commune with God this week? That’s the most important question, the most important part of my schedule.

I occasionally struggle with staying asleep. For instance, I’ve been up since 2:30 AM, and I’m writing this post at 5:15 AM. I would love to be sleeping right now. Especially with a busy day of preaching and hosting students for dinner ahead of me. But here I am.

And you know what?

It’s been beautiful. Sure, I watched a couple YouTube videos. But for the most part I’ve been reading some and praying some and journaling a whole lot. I feel God’s presence close, intimately close.

I wrote in one of my journals that I would take this feeling of intimacy with God over sleep every time.

I wish I could say this was a daily reality. It’s not.

Again, this verse is kicking my butt.

I need to seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility.

How can I become more righteous, more like Christ, this week?

How can I grow in humility (something that is central to my identity as a follower of Jesus, something I don’t have to work to have but rather seek to implement: see Philippians 2:5) this week?

Zephaniah tells me.

By doing just commands.

God’s commands that is.

If I seek to live in step with the commands of God in Scripture, I will over time, through the work of the Spirit, become more like Him and grow in humility and righteous living.

Humble, righteous men and women change communities because humble, righteous men and women give God all of the glory instead of seeking to hoard it for themselves.

Oh goodness I’ve got a long laundry list of times where I sought to get a little bit of God’s glory for myself.

It never pans out.

Brother or sister in Christ, seek the Lord this week.

He will be found!

May our communities be overflowing with men and women who seek the Lord and imitate His humility and righteousness to a watching world.

In His Name,

Nate Roach

Young Lions

I grew up on Psalm 34:8.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! – Psalm 34:8

I’ve seen it referenced time and time again, whether in somebody’s kitchen, on somebody’s Facebook post, or before taking the Lord’s Supper with a church community. Yet I have failed to recognize the beauty of this verse in the context of the entire 34th Psalm. Nestled in this verse is the doctrine of divine providence. We see the truth that God provides for and protects His people. I am not a seasoned scholar or theologian so I’m not even going to try and explain God’s sovereignty vs. the free will of man. However, I will tell you that God is ultimately the Provider and Protector of us His children.

Our every single need is met by God. He provides for all of our needs.

Not only does the 34th Psalm teach us that He is a Provider, it also teaches us that He is a Protector.

Look with me at verses seven and ten.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. – Psalm 34:7

There are days where I blow through life without meditating on or thinking about the spiritual aspects of my day-to-day life. There are other days where I’m more acutely aware of the spiritual warfare being waged around me. This verse should strengthen any feeble man, as it reminds us that God’s legion of hosts are around us, and that we will be delivered in the times of our need (v. 6).

The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:10

I’ve not been around lions outside of the zoo, but it is apparent to me that they are accomplished hunters. Young lions especially are adept at hunting due to their speed, ferocity, and energy. They are referred to as the kings of the jungle for a reason. They are at the top of the food chain in their neck of the woods. For them to go hungry, many things have to be off kilter.

That’s what makes this verse so striking. There are seasons in the Sahara where the lions may be lacking in food, lacking in what they need to survive the season. Yet for the follower of Christ, no good thing is lacking. What a beautiful promise of God’s provision.

As we meditate upon the provision and protection of the God we serve, we should remember a few different things. There are truths this passage will remind us of before we expect a perfect life.

Be humble.

As we think about God’s providing and protecting hand, we must remember that we are called to remain humble before God. Psalm 34:2 will remind us to boast in the Lord, that the humble will hear of the promises of God and be glad. Psalm 34:6 tells us that it is the poor man whose cries the Lord hears.

God is loving, compassionate, and generous. At the same time however he is not a fan of the arrogant and prideful. His grace through Jesus is strong enough to cover over those sins, yet we should still seek humility before Him.

The very provision and protection of God is what is designed to lead us to be humble before Him. As I meditate upon the ways that God is providing for and protecting me each and every day, I am humbled because I understand that I’m not capable of doing those things in my own life.

Seek God.

God’s provision and protection should also lead us to worship Him and seek Him more. Psalm 34:4 says, I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. God is always in control of the cosmos. That being said, I know for a fact that in my life when I chase after Him and seek Him that I become more acutely aware of that reality.

When I’m coasting through life, I forget about God’s provision and protection and find myself shackled to fear and worry. I was a worry wart almost the entire time I was in Phoenix. Yet in the seasons of life where I have chased after God with everything in me, I have seen and beheld the ways that God has provided for and protected me and I am delivered from my fears.

Seeking God helps us to acknowledge the ways God is working in our midst.

Remember He is God and He is good. 

Lastly, we need to remember that not everything in life will work out the way that we would want it to. Just this very day things are not working out the way I had hoped in the life of one of my closest friends, and I question what God is up to.

Yet look with me at Psalm 34:9-10.

Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:9-10

The doctrine of divine providence does not promise perfect lives for followers of Christ. These verses do not promise our every heart’s desire. Instead these verses should remind and encourage us that God is God and God is good. When the psalmist promises us that we will lack no good thing when we seek the Lord, He is telling us that God is all the good we need.

When we pursue after and seek Christ, we get Him.

When we get Him, we lack nothing.

God promises to provide and protect for His people. Open your eyes and start acknowledging the ways God has done just that in your life. Next time you eat, thank God for His provision. Next time you sleep in safety, thank God for His protection.

In every bite and morsel throughout our lives we ought to taste the provision of God. 

Young lions may go hungry.

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

In His Name,

Nathan Roach

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