{"id":2489,"date":"2020-09-09T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2020-08-31T10:26:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T15:26:00","slug":"when-you-seek-god-he-notices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/09\/09\/when-you-seek-god-he-notices\/","title":{"rendered":"WHEN YOU SEEK GOD, HE NOTICES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u201cGod looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.\u201d (Psalm 53:2 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God sees all.&nbsp; God knows all.&nbsp; God loves all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God\u2019s sovereignty is hard to understand.&nbsp; He sees the effort we make, no matter how tiny.&nbsp; He\u2019s looking for those who try, and He rewards their effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/abc.com\/shows\/greys-anatomy\">Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/a> is one of my favorite medical shows.&nbsp; Inevitably, a storyline exists in which the patient\u2019s family is waiting for signs of life.&nbsp; Hours, days, even weeks will pass as they wait for movement.&nbsp; Sometimes, the symbol of life is a finger that taps the bed or a small nod of the head.&nbsp; Whatever the indication, it is always slight and barely noticeable.&nbsp; But someone notices.&nbsp; The battle to live won for the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>God notices our slightest effort.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some days, our slightest effort is getting out of bed.&nbsp; God rewards our struggle with the energy to keep going.&nbsp; As much as I love God, some days are more challenging than others.&nbsp; My \u201cseeking\u201d of God is in the simple prayer, \u201cGod, get me out of bed.\u201d&nbsp; Sometimes, the world is so overwhelming, so saddening, the thought of facing another day is the mountain we have to climb. &nbsp; COVID, riots, death, suffering, the world is an ugly place.&nbsp; Add that level of reality to our stressful personal lives; staying in bed seems like a good option.&nbsp; However, God gave us each a light to shine.&nbsp; We can\u2019t shine our lights from bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>All God asks is that you try.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Try seeking and understanding God today in your life.&nbsp; Ask the questions that help gain understanding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Why does God want me to forgive?<\/li><li>How can God love everyone?<\/li><li>Why does He place such an emphasis on sexual relationships?<\/li><li>Why did Jesus have to die?<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The list of questions is endless.&nbsp; Ask them.&nbsp; Seek answers in God\u2019s word.&nbsp; Talk to people who follow Christ, ask them their stories.&nbsp; Listen as they explain the steps of faith that have led them where they are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the topic of sex, I decided to seek God. Why did God not want me to have premarital sex? Quickly answered with the first guy I dated.&nbsp; God was protecting me.&nbsp; The guy, a man I met in church, was having multiple sexual relationships with different women.&nbsp; When I refused to sleep with him, the truth came out.&nbsp; Praise God. His Word prevented me from making the same mistake again.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After God answers one of your questions, ask another.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twenty years later, I\u2019m still asking questions.&nbsp; If we open ourselves up to learning what God has for us in this life, we\u2019ll always have more questions.&nbsp; God\u2019s word has the answers.&nbsp; As we apply it to our lives, our understanding of God deepens.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seek. Ask. Apply. Understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">What question do you want to ask God today?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Further Reading: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah%203-5&amp;version=NIV\">Isaiah 3-5 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2Cor+11:1-15\">2 Corinthians 11:1-15 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm%2053&amp;version=NIV\">Psalm 53 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Proverbs%2022%3A28-29&amp;version=NIV\">Proverbs 22:28-29 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cGod looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.\u201d (Psalm 53:2 NIV) God sees all.&nbsp; God knows all.&nbsp; God loves all. God\u2019s sovereignty is hard to understand.&nbsp; He sees the effort we make, no matter how tiny.&nbsp; He\u2019s looking for those who try, and&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/09\/09\/when-you-seek-god-he-notices\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">WHEN YOU SEEK GOD, HE NOTICES<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2490,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions\/2490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}