Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

After I put dinner in the oven today I played hide and seek with my kids. In the dark. With flashlights. It was a blast. Then this verse from Jeremiah was featured in my devotional reading tonight. Searching for the Lord with all my heart was easy to picture given the earnest game I’d just played. The squeals of delight from my children when they located each other were instantly in my mind as I read about seeking the Lord.

See, my kids didn’t feel it was some kind of chore to come looking for me – their flashlight bouncing off furniture and the walls as they hunted. Although it was dark and the way was uncertain, they were excited because they knew what they sought. It was a pleasure, and a privilege to look everywhere. To leave no cranny concealed. No nook undiscovered. Eagerly they searched with all their hearts. Gleeful when they found me. Continually wanting to play and seek again.

How do I mirror that delight in my search for the Lord? He says when I seek Him with all my heart, I will find Him. With so many other concerns clouding my heart, how do I keep it focused on God? I want to have a childlike wonder at the closeness of Jesus. That He would come be with me. Near. Personal. Real. It is so easy to lose sight of Him when my attention is arrested by life. I ricochet from one thing to another, like a flashlight beam in a dark room.

Today, I feel God wanted to remind me to be intentional in my search for Him. Focused. Not allowing the darkness of this world to overwhelm His light and calling in my life. I know the Lord is not hiding from me like I do during play with my kids. He wants to be found. I only need to seek. And so, I shall.