Click For Audio Version
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Acts 17:27-28 NKJV
Though I have read it often, this time was the first time that this phrase “grope for Him and find Him,” deeply struck my heart.
We often think of the word grope in connection with hunting for something in the dark. I often grope for the light switch in the middle of the night. I tap the wall hunting until I find it. One touch and the room floods with light.
So it is with groping for God.
Want Him so badly that you seek Him wholeheartedly until you find Him.
Reach out in the darkness of sin and keep hunting until you find Him there.
This verse goes on to say that He is not far from each one of us.
In other words, He is CLOSE at hand and knows that you are there fumbling for Him, wanting Him, needing Him.
His Father Heart is close by.
The verse goes on to tell us that we live and move and have our being in Him. Truly, there is nothing, utterly nothing, in this life of any value without God in our lives first and foremost.
We are God’s offspring, His children.
He is our FATHER.
We have found our Home, our true Home, in Him when we find Him.
—
Years before these words of Luke that we have just read, the psalmist David wrote of his trust in God. He tells of making a refuge in the shadow of God’s protection. There he will hide until the calamities have passed by. We can only imagine the calamities he faced. It is believed that David was writing these words while he was hiding from King Saul. Saul, you will recall, often sought to take David’s life. Imagine the forces that King Saul had at his disposal for anyone that he thought of as a rival or enemy.
Yet, David had God with him.
God’s Power and Presence was stronger than that of Goliath, and it was certainly stronger than any earthly king.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by. Psalms 57:1 NKJV
Thus, from the New Testament, we find one seeking God with all their might, groping for Him in their trouble, and while in the darkness of sin.
God was found, for He was always close.
He still is.
In case you are groping yourself now and then and wondering if He is far away or close at hand, be assured He is close.
Just. Reach. Out.
Then, like David, know that He is yours, and you can go to Him at all times. When fears assault and calamities surround you, in Him there is help.
Hide in Him.
Listen to what HE has to say to you.
Grope. Cling. Seek. Hide. Trust. Believe. Confess.
You are now His. God will raise you up.
God pours His strength and power, and love into you.
His Holy Spirit will come to LIVE WITHIN YOU, if you ask God.
All things become new.
Talk to Him.
See for yourself.