Where is the Lord?

Time is a precious commodity. God has reminded me of this lately. A lot.

Our time is a one-time-use kind of thing, no reliving moments or having do-overs. With only one shot at it, we all desire to use it to the best of our ability. Good or bad our moments pass, and those moments blend together to become a lifetime, a legacy.

This very idea can produce a heavy weight on us. What if I don’t do it right? What if I don’t do all that I am supposed to do? The “what ifs” can be the question that is foremost in our mind.

I have a better idea, though. I am studying the book of Jeremiah and found a question in there that is far better. Jeremiah so desires for the nation of Judah to turn back to the Lord. He does not want to see the destruction of his homeland. But the one question he tells them to ask, they never do.

In Jeremiah 2:6 he says, “They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?'” He points this out again later in the same chapter (verse 8). This one question could have changed everything. It says in Jeremiah 2:5, “They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” In verse 11 of the same chapter it says, “But my people exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.”

If they had simply asked “Where is the Lord?” everything would have been different. Instead, their nation was destroyed and the people taken as captives to a foreign land. They were God’s chosen people; He loved them. They simply had to love Him back, but instead they chose foreign gods and idols made with their own hands.

We look back and are amazed and appalled that they would do such a thing! Such an easy decision and they chose so wrongly! Then we look at our day, or at least I do. I see the time I spend with Him in the morning, desiring to follow Him. Then as the day goes on I get distracted. I am no longer seeking Him, but getting caught up in the world of stuff and things I have created. My choices some days look much like the Jews.

Jeremiah shares some further wisdom from the Lord in Jeremiah 29:13 when he shares words from the Lord again. The Lord said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” We will seek Him AND find Him WHEN we seek Him with all of our hearts.

He wants us to ask the same question He wanted the Jews to ask – Where is the Lord? He wants us to seek him with all of our heart, not just in the morning during our quiet time or sitting in the pew at church, but while we are doing laundry or driving our cars or teaching our children.

Where is the Lord? If we live our lives asking this very question, the time we consider so precious, the burden of the legacy we wish to leave will be answered through the constant activity and immeasurable grace of the God we serve. He is truly active in all parts of our lives and desires for us to seek Him…with all of our hearts. I don’t want to exchange my Glory (my God) for worthless idols, nor do I want to become worthless myself.

For today, for everyday, I simply want to live with the question in my heart: Where is the Lord?

Feel free to share this post or leave comment. No doubt, we all desire to redeem our time and live a life that is His. Living today with the question: Where is the Lord?