Seek God Through It

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 1:3, Deuteronomy 31:6

Life presents many challenges, and for some people, it starts at a young age. From the age of 5-18, I struggled with suicidal thoughts, anger, depression, and anxiety. Even after I gave my heart to Christ, I still struggled with hopelessness. I heard many messages on faith and God’s love which consoled me but never changed me. The reality was that those messages were more like boosters that helped me to get through the next week. The darkness, depression, anxiety, and my struggle to live and forgive were still very prevalent.

I would often try to force myself to have faith and analyze my sufferings. I did not want to be a depressed Christian. I was depressed and an atheist, so being depressed and a Christian did not make sense. ( I can do bad all by myself lol)

It was not until I began to seek God that I discovered that peace is possible and it dwells in His presence.

God’s peace is something we continue to mature in by the leading of The Holy Spirit.

I believe the person we can relate to the most when it comes to trauma and depression is Job.Job was a man who repeatedly said that he wished he was never born. Life had made him feel that it was not worth living. 

Do you ever feel that bad things just keep happening to you? That no matter what you do or don’t do, life continues to hurt you, humiliate you? It is at this time that we must seek God, even when we don’t want to.

Trust me, seeking God isn’t as hard as we tend to think. Seeking God, just as in seeking anything, just takes commitment. When we view something as hard, we are automatically discouraged from commitment.

Start seeking God with the mindset of I’m going to enjoy this, and not the mindset of this is rigid.

Day: 1

• Worship first thing in the morning and last thing at night. How long is up to you. While worshiping focus on who He is.

Scriptures: Psalms 56:8, Job 7:17-19, Hebrews 2:6

God sees you. That may sound obvious, but no, He really sees you. 

He sees when we are hurting. He sees our pain, our secret fears, our frustrations, our desires, our disappointments, our anger, our fake smiles, our fake laughs. He sees every abuse we have ever endured. He isn’t blind, nor is He ignoring our cries.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 56:8 NLT “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. “

Sometimes I just like to reread that verse and remind myself that my tears are not in vain. That God considers humans so valuable that our very tears get collected in bottles and recorded in Heaven.

Even when we can’t speak, our tears are speaking words only God can interpret. 

So when we seek God, we don’t seek Him from the position of trying to get His attention, but from the position we already have it.

We already have His attention. We are already in His thoughts.

It is possible to have peace in turmoil. I know it sounds weird, but it is possible.

The first thing we must do is get to know who He is. See, we can’t seek someone we don’t know, nor can we trust someone we don’t know.

If I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God is a provider—that He will provide, and I can have peace in my current situation—I will approach worship and prayer differently. I will not consider it a religious mandate, but an opportunity to be recharged and replenished in His peace.

Many of us will say: But I do believe that He is a provider.

My response: If we believe that, then why do we worry? 

I don’t have to worry about anything I know is taken care of. I only worry when I am not sure.

If I ask someone who I know will correctly and thoroughly do something for me, I am not worried. I am not worried because this person has a PROVEN track record with me. I know that I can trust them.

BUT.

If I ask someone who I do not have a relationship with to do something for me, I am not sure if they can get it done. I am just hoping that they can. I leave room for worry. 

Day 2:

• Worship God day and night.
• Meditate on who He is.

Scriptures: Matthew 6:33-34, 1 Chronicles 16:11, Jeremiah 29:13

With our natural mind, it can be hard to conceive that if we seek God, somehow life gets better. That is not the answer we want. What we want is once we stop praying the first time that our situation is eradicated. We want peace to be around us in order for us to have peace inside of us.

God says that He will give us peace inside even when there isn’t peace around us. Having His peace on the inside means we will never be affected by what’s happening on the outside. His peace guards our hearts and mind.

One passage that always challenged me was when Jesus said to seek the Kingdom of God first, and His righteousness, and everything we stand in need of will be added to us. I would think: Well, how long do I have to do that until what I need is given to me? After a couple of days, I would stop seeking God.

My heart wasn’t right. When you are only seeking God for yourself and not to know Him and be with Him, your faith will not be sustained. Wrong motives will never produce a reward from God. Selfish seeking will never sustain us.

God wants us to seek His face, not His hand. Seek His heart, not His power. In genuinely seeking Him, we gain the abundant life that Jesus provides.

 Day 4:

• Pray and worship.

Scriptures: Mark 5:25-34, Psalms 91:1-4

Have you ever had to drive through heavy rain or thick fog? You had to press through until you reached your destination. The rain and fog hindered your vision to see where you were going. Sometimes, you stop until the storm or fog subsides.

In seeking God, we will have to press through mental and sometimes physical obstacles. Seeking God is a pattern that must be formed and built. It isn’t our innate response.

Trauma has a way of blinding us from seeking God because all we usually see is our pain. We feel the outside demands from family and friends. We feel our internal being crashing under the pressure of our responsibilities and our realities.

These are all mental barriers that we must press through, just like the woman with the issue of blood who pressed through the crowd. The crowd is not only a physical barrier but a mental one. We have to press through every self-doubt, God-doubts, what-ifs, why me, and more just to get to the place of restoration and wholeness Jesus provides. If our mind stays in the darkness of our situation, how will we ever see the light?

This woman knew that in touching Jesus by faith, she would be whole. To press through the crowd wasn’t enough. It was the entering into His presence and touching Him, by faith, that made her whole.

By seeking Jesus and entering into His presence, we can also have restoration.

Day 5:

• Pray and worship.

Scriptures: Romans 4:20, 2 Corinthians 1:3, Hebrews 11:6, Exodus 3:14

Seeking God is important. But in order to seek after someone or something, you must have an idea of its attributes. The same is true about God. We must know God’s attributes.

We cannot just have a casual acquaintance with who He is based on what we’ve heard in church or what we’ve heard other people say.

When we are convinced, without any form of doubt, that God is a provider, a comforter, that He cares about us, that He sees us, that His presence is our lifeline, and more, we will act upon that revelation. Now, many people will say that they are convinced, even if they do struggle with anxiety, depression, and feelings of giving up. But we need to be convinced in the same manner we are convinced about our skin tone. No matter the situation, nobody can EVER convince us that we aren’t a certain complexion. We know, without a doubt, the complexion of our skin. We know, without a doubt, we have a beating heart and brain. No one and nothing can convince us otherwise. 

We must be equally convinced that God is who He says He is. God’s promises are still relevant and active.

Day 6:

• Meditate on who God is.

Scriptures: Psalms 46:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalms 91:1

We need quiet time—time alone with just us and God. During this time we should be studying His word, praying, and worshiping. These are not things “church people do” or rigorous “religious mandates” but it is the opportunity to really get to know God. 

I want to put emphasis on opportunity because it is always a privilege to get to know Him.

Think about it.

He knows all things. He understands all things. His wisdom is GREAT. In His presence alone is perfect peace, wholeness, and serenity. So why not spend time with the One who provides our greatest need, which is peace?

Uninterrupted time with God on a daily basis will change our lives. We can be like Jesus on the boat, sleeping while problems are rising around us..

Spend purposeful time with God today. Even try to increase the time you spent in the last three days. Watch how your mind and inner peace change!

 Day 7:

• Pray and worship without interruption.

Scriptures: Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:5-7

The peace of God is a promise, and every promise of God is attached to a principle. We must teach ourselves not to worry. The Bible mentions two profound things about peace. It says: The peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) and perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). 

When reading these encouraging verses without understanding how to live them out, we quickly revert back to what we know: worrying.

Paul tells us not to be anxious or have anxiety about anything. In our mental health awareness culture today, his statements may seem preposterous or outdated. But then he says, in everything. Not some things, but everything, by prayer and supplication with thankfulness, let your request be known to God. (Philippians 4:6 KJV)

It is only when we do what scripture tells us that the peace of God which surpasses all the understanding of our mental faculties will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Surpass, in Greek, means to excel and go beyond. This means that this peace that God provides goes beyond out understanding. This means His peace, that only He can give, doesn’t make human or natural sense. Not only that, but His peace guards—like a firewall or anti-virus software does a computer—our hearts, and minds in Christ Jesus. His peace blocks the viruses from this world that try to discourage us. 

The only way to activate this promise is by faith that when we pray and lay our cares before Jesus, God not only hears us but will provide relief in the form of His surpassing-understanding peace.

Day 8:

• Meditate on His Peace.

Scripture: Matthew 16:26

What has your attention? Is it giving you peace?

It’s important to analyze what and who we give most of our attention to. God? Social media? Friends and family? Spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends?

We need a regular check like Apple gives iPhone users telling us how much time we spend on our phones, how many times we picked up our phones, and how much time we spent on social media.

I don’t know about you, but I am extremely happy when I see my percentage go down! lol

Truthfully, we spend more time on our phones than we do with God. In other words, we spend more time with things and people who can’t provide our deepest need, peace, than we do with God.

During trials, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of looking for something to be a diversion. This is called escapism. We tend to seek things we believe will help us not focus on our pain. These things never give us peace, but provide a sense of relief, resulting in us spending more time with those things than God.

We gain the whole world in the palm of our hands. Yet lose out on peace in our soul.

Day 9:

• Who has your attention?

Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-8, Psalms 62:8, Psalms 56:3, Deuteronomy 31:6

We need the Holy Spirit. Our communication with Him is vital. Seeking God is a journey that never stops. Sometimes life presents problems that cause us to want to do absolutely nothing but sulk. 

We get to the point that we are tired of being tired. Tired of crying. Tired of praying. Tired of trying. Tired of church. Tired of worshiping. Tired of life.

It is during these moments we must encourage ourselves to PRESS through the crowds of thoughts that tell us we need to give up. We must believe, without a doubt, that we can, and will, obtain the promise of God when we seek Him. We must believe that His perfect and surpassing peace is possible for us.

We must have faith when seeking God. Believing, just like the woman with the issue of blood, that once we touch Him, we will be made whole. 

Declare this every day:

• I will have peace.
• I have the victory.
• God makes me whole.
• I will seek when I don’t feel like it.

Every dark tunnel ends in light. Every storm ends. God remains faithful.

Seek Him through IT!

Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-8, Psalms 62:8, Psalms 56:3, Deuteronomy 31:6

We need the Holy Spirit. Our communication with Him is vital. Seeking God is a journey that never stops. Sometimes life presents problems that cause us to want to do absolutely nothing but sulk. 

We get to the point that we are tired of being tired. Tired of crying. Tired of praying. Tired of trying. Tired of church. Tired of worshiping. Tired of life.

It is during these moments we must encourage ourselves to PRESS through the crowds of thoughts that tell us we need to give up. We must believe, without a doubt, that we can, and will, obtain the promise of God when we seek Him. We must believe that His perfect and surpassing peace is possible for us.

We must have faith when seeking God. Believing, just like the woman with the issue of blood, that once we touch Him, we will be made whole. 

Declare this every day:

• I will have peace.
• I have the victory.
• God makes me whole.
• I will seek when I don’t feel like it.

Every dark tunnel ends in light. Every storm ends. God remains faithful.

Seek Him through IT!