Today’s Daily Bread ~ “I Spy”

Deuteronomy 4:29 – From there you will search again for the LORD our God.  And if you search for Him with all your heart and soul, you will find Him.

My children love a good game of “I Spy.”  If you’re not familiar with it, it goes something like this: “I spy, with my little eye, something blue!”  The participants are then required to guess until they discover the object.

With my almost-4-year-old son, the answer is typically something simple, like “the sky” or “the grass.”  Caitlyn, not wanting anyone else to win, makes it nearly impossible to guess. 

During one particularly nail biting game (tongue firmly planted in cheek), I saw an American flag waving off to my right.  “Ok, kids,” I sang, “What is red, white, blue, and waving in the wind?”

I thought they would know immediately, but after several guesses, they still didn’t have the answer.  So I started in with the hints (a major infraction of the “I Spy” rules and regulations).  “Up in the air, love-bugs.  To Caitlyn’s right.  No honey, your right.  Up, Nicky.  You have to look up.”

Finally and simultaneously, they yelled, “the American flag!”

Contrary to my daughter’s cut-throat style of play, I have no desire to win.  I want them to guess.  I deliberately craft my clues to make the object as findable as possible. 

Just like God does for us.

Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the LORD while you can find Him.  Call on Him while He is near.

We serve a loving God; a compassionate God.  He is not removed from us, looking on from afar.  Our God is a God who desperately wants to be found.

2 Corinthians 5:7  – For we walk by faith, not by sight.

How would you describe the wind to a small child?  You see a flag waving as it blows.  You hear it rustling through the trees.  You feel it whipping your hair.  And then the child asks this: But what does it look like? 

Well, you answer, you can’t see the wind.  You only know it’s there because of its effects.  Because of its evidence.

God leaves His fingerprints everywhere He goes.  Like a mother playing I Spy with her small children, He gives hints and clues until we find Him:  The yearning you feel in your heart.  The unselfishness you see in His people.  His one and only Son, who walked the earth with us.  The One who died and rose again, appearing to the Apostles and over 500 witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6).  And finally, the Bible.  A collection of historical accounts, prophecy, biographies and testimonies.  A road map to His throne room.  A love letter from Him to you.

We are never alone.  The One who tenderly thought of you before the world began is with you now.  He is always calling to you, wooing you.  Beckoning you further in, to a deeper, more fulfilling relationship.  Even in your darkest moments He is watching you, ruthlessly pursuing you with an unfathomable, irresistible love.

Psalm 119:2-3 – Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!  They also do no inequity, they walk in His ways.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us the way You do.  You give us oceans of mercy and rivers of grace.  Thank You for Your comforting Presence.  God, help us to remember that even and especially when we feel alone or disconnected to You, You are still with us.   You tell us to rely on what we know, not what we feel (Proverbs 3:5).  That is so difficult to do, please remind us of the truth:  that You are always near.  Remind us that when we humble ourselves before You and draw near to You, You draw near to us (James 4:7-8).  Help us to take the love that You lavish on us and give it away.  Touch our hearts, that we might love others the way You love us.  Touch our hands and our feet, that we would be quick to serve; to be the hands and feet of Christ.  Touch our eyes, that we might see the world as You see it.  Help us to delight only in You.  Father, we thank You for Your Son, and the magnificent work of the cross.  We pray in the beautiful, blessed name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.