Adrift in the storm

Adrift

Drifting in the storm,
Lost in the oceans vastness
The waves crash and surge
And the dark surrounds me
No power over my direction
There is no rest or peace here
I shout but no-one hears
And my tears begin to fall

As the storm worsens
I see another traveling
I call out and he hears me
He turns to come to my aid
As he draws close
His prescence warms my soul
He shares my pain, my fear
Rekindles hope within me

I am no longer alone
The wind howls and the waves crash
But a light has been lit in my soul
The storm rages outside,
But the storm within me has been silenced
(by Ian)

Psalm 23 in the Bible says "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you are with me". God promises to be with and comfort all who are willing, through the good and the bad times.

Hide and seek is an adults game too...

Checking under the bed, in the cupboard, behind the tree, in the garden...the search is on! Hide and seek. The excitement of searching and finding and the fun of being looked for. A childhood game but also an adult one.

As we grow up the game of hide and seek changes. No longer bound to houses or the streets we live in our seeking extends further. Our seeking extends out into space to search to the furthest reaches of space to find new planets, new stars.

Neil Armstrong the first man to venture into space said: "I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream." Our nature gives us this desire to seek, to be challenged to search out. Our search isn't alaways as far as space. We search closer to home; for a life partner, for the right career and at Christmas we even begin the searches for the right gift for those close to us. 

Life is a search - The spirit within us created to search

God who created the universe for us to explore, who created the outer reaches of space and the depths of the sea. He also created us and has put within us the desire to search; to search for love, fulfillment, peace and joy. The God who created this spirit within us also desires that we search after him.

Our search for God - God's search for us 

Jesus tells us stories about the kingdom of God and compares it to a search. He uses the parable of a merchant searching for something of value.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! (The Bible, Matt 13:45-46)

The same God who asks us to seek him, also searches for us. Jesus also tells the parable of the lost coin:

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? (The Bible, Luke 15:8)

God searches for us as the lady searches for the coin. She is not satisfied until she finds what she is looking for. Searching because she is looking for something of value to her has been lost. God is constantly seeking us, as he loves us.

Lifelong searching

Life is about seeking and finding. The search for God is about finding something precious (like the merchant's search), it is about finding something that has great value. Something worth the effort. In our life we may find times we feel close to God but also times where God feels distant. But we are encouraged to search and maybe feeling God far should give us more motivation to search?