House and Car keys in hand, I was ready to dash off when I thought to apply some hand cream but couldn’t find it. Heading straight for the transparent bag I had previously used, I searched with confidence that I had left it in there but found nothing. At this point, my patience was beginning to wear out as I had to leave early for school pick up to avoid traffic.

Where could this hand cream possibly be ?  I wondered,  as I had searched the bag I was carrying twice . At the third time round, there, at the corner of the bag, my hand cream. I was almost tempted to ask, how it got  there,  yet I knew it had been there all along. I just wasn’t looking properly and in that instance a scripture came to mind.

Jeremiah 29 : 13 TLB

“You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.”

IF YOU LOOK FOR ME IN EARNEST.

In the old testament, the ark which represented God’s presence was  kept in the  innermost part of the temple and not everyone had access.  The only man who had access ( The high priest) was only granted that, once a year.

 Imagine that , going to God only once in a year and not even with a full assurance.  A rope was  tied  around the waist of the high priest with bells on it so that if he went in to the most holy place and for some reason , like not been clean enough, dropped dead,  he could be pulled out by the rope ,  since no one else was clean enough to go in( the rigor of going to God through

your works) .

Thank God Jesus came to give us a better way through his ultimate sacrifice. As a result of the cross, Jesus took the sin that separated man from God. The thick curtain that segmented the temple was torn from top to bottom and EVERYONE was granted access to God.

You have access to God , not through another human being – stop looking to another person to access God for you.Jesus took the penalty for sin. You are not going to drop dead if you go  to God, on the contrary, you will receive life and fullness in His presence. God is no more hidden.

 The question now is why do we still struggle to find God sometimes in certain situations . Why does God

sometimes seem so far away.

Jeremiah 29 :13 says ,” we will find him if we look in earnest “.

According to the dictionary definition, the word earnest means ,” resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction”.

Hebrews 11 : 6 puts it this way,

 ” ….Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” MSG

Some people know the first part, which is that God exists yet struggle with the part that says that God cares enough…

This has prevented to a large extent, in

some finding God in certain areas of their lives.God is a present God who cares enough about the very small details, God cares enough about the big things . God cares enough about everything in-between.

So when we come to God, let us come with a full assurance that God is PRESENT, ABLE, READY and WILLING to answer.