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What does it mean to seek the Lord with all your heart as He told us to do in Jeremiah 29:12-13?  Does it mean to say our prayers daily (well, almost every day)?  Most of us do that.  Does it mean to go to church to worship God every Sunday and try to concentrate on His glory while we’re contemplating how our child will play in their tournament game that afternoon or how we’re going to finish our latest work project on time?  Many of us do that.  So, should those things make us satisfied that we are seeking God with “all our heart”?  I don’t think so.  Do you really know and trust in the glorious love God has for each and every one of us?  Do you remember He said, “As much as the Father has loved Me, I have loved you …” (John 15:9).  That is more than we can even imagine.  Do you ever feel distant from Him?  Using “all our heart” to seek God means we must perceive our longing and desire to be one with Him every second of every moment of every day.  And remember He is desiring us and loving us every second of every moment of every day.  This longing to be one with Him must be our greatest priority.  Nothing can (or should) come before our love for Him.  Only then will we know His longing for us and the peace and joy He wants to give us.  I learned this lesson the hard way.

We often open our hearts completely to God when tragedy strikes, and we know only He can help us … perhaps an unexpected death, the threat of a possible divorce, the illness of your spouse, parent or one of your children, problems at work, not enough money to pay the bills, etc.   I want us all to remember how we sought God at that time.  I’ve been there myself multiple times but never more than when  my beautiful young teen-aged daughter had a fight with her father and ran away from home.  Then, her younger sister and a friend ran away too.  They were gone overnight.  I could only imagine the evil things that could be happening to them.  I prayed with every fiber of my being … like I’ve never prayed before.  I opened my “whole heart” to God and begged for His help, His mercy, His comfort,  while sharing with Him all of my sorrow and fear.  I let my God know I felt as if a knife had pierced my heart.  I needed His help more than anything in the world and I told Him so.  And He returned them safely to me.

We all need to try to capture the passion of that kind of longing for our Lord and keep it alive in our hearts every day.  We need to open the gates to our hearts’ joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, and give it all to our God, lifting it up to Him, offering Him our whole being.

When we capture that passion it forms a small place in our heart where we can feel God dwelling inside of us.  We no longer have to try to think of Him every second of every minute of every day because we can feel His presence with us no matter what we are doing.

Then, we will truly be seeking Him with our “all our heart”,  not just when we have a crisis.  And we will find Him there.  Just as He promised us.