…."in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:22-27 NKJV)
"Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the ear, and has determined their pre appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope the they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;"
Do we worship the known, or the unknown? Seek what cannot be seen rather than what is seen easily. Paul's spirit was provoked by what he saw in Athens. The city was given over to idols. The people of Athen's met among the circle of their gods to talk and share ideas, but sat in a circle of emptiness groping for understanding.Their hunger for truth was evident. Among the clouds of darkness and the stronghold of idol worship, Paul saw a glimpse of their hunger for truth, the statue set up just in case they had missed something important. There was a statue erected to "The Unknown God." Paul knew that the Unknown God was tangible in a different way than what they understood.
The people of Athens worshiped what they could see. They wanted to see and feel their gods. Paul appealed to them on that basis, but revealed that the way to God was to "grope for Him and find Him." It is like reaching for something in the dark and stretching out our hands out to find our way. If we don't do this, we ultimately trip over the things that are in the seen world. Groping in a realm we usually cannot see...this is the way to find the One, the Unknown God, to know Him. If we are not groping to find the God who is near, we will only find what we see in the visible world. It is in the invisible place that the finding occurs. We feel around, not with our hands, but with our spirit and our will, with the hunger that He puts in our hearts. We long to connect, but often try to fill that hunger with food that only brings satisfaction for a short time. What fills our need for connection and fulfillment.
What are the seen idols that distract us from groping for the unseen God: friends, family, shopping, a great cocktail, work? Greater rewards are available amidst all of those distractions. The wonder and joy of His Presence is the balm of the soul and the joy that never ceases. It enables us to see into the unseen when our circumstances look unfavorable, to view it from God's perspective. I love that God is the God who calls things that are not as though they were. (Romans 4:17) The invisible God, the "Unknown God", the I AM is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Grope, reach, stretch, call out and find the God who heals, the God who provides, the God who's name is glory and power, beauty and light. "He is not far from each one of us," although we must hunger and grope to find him. He is near and waits for us to call upon His name.
What are the seen idols that distract us from groping for the unseen God: friends, family, shopping, a great cocktail, work? Greater rewards are available amidst all of those distractions. The wonder and joy of His Presence is the balm of the soul and the joy that never ceases. It enables us to see into the unseen when our circumstances look unfavorable, to view it from God's perspective. I love that God is the God who calls things that are not as though they were. (Romans 4:17) The invisible God, the "Unknown God", the I AM is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Grope, reach, stretch, call out and find the God who heals, the God who provides, the God who's name is glory and power, beauty and light. "He is not far from each one of us," although we must hunger and grope to find him. He is near and waits for us to call upon His name.
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