When we are in the midst of a crisis or looking for direction, who do we turn to for answers? Do you worry and fret while you are seeking advice from others? Do you find that when people give you conflicting suggestions you end up feeling worse off and more perplexed trying to evaluate everything they are telling you to do? Or when the storms roll in do you take a deep breath and run to God in prayer seeking His face for wisdom, clear direction, and maybe even protection? We all need to be surrounded by wise counsel. We need people who will advise us well. Sadly, sometimes we surround ourselves with people that only tell us what they think we want to hear and that can be bad counsel. If we run to God and seek His face, we can trust Him to bless us with wise counsel.
Let us search the Scriptures for a clear picture and life application for seeking the face of God. We know that we are to “seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isa 55:6). We long for tomorrow when“there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they [we] will see His face, and His name will be on their [our] foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they [we] will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them [us]; and they [we] will reign forever and ever” (Rev 22:3-5). That will be the time when “He will wipe every tear from their [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4). But here, today, we must face our pain, make hard decisions, climb the mountains, and walk through the valleys. To live and love well we must humbly pray and seek God’s face. We are His children, and He hears our cries. Praise be to God!!
Remember when Jacob humbled himself prayerfully seeking God’s face? Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered’” (Gen 32:9-12). That was the very night Jacob wrestled with God. “That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’ Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared’” (Gen 32:22-30). Jacob humbled himself before God and sought His face. God heard his cry and showed up in a mighty way. He changed Jacob’s name to Israel that night, and He blessed him. “Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always” (1 Chron 16:10-11). To God be the glory!! Amen Amen.
