Where to Find God

For the past several months, I’ve been attending a new church. For someone who hitherto spent her entire life in the same church family, the experience has been a bit like entering a new frontier.

And the question that’s loomed foremost in my mind is, “Will God meet me here?”

Over and over, in myriad ways, He has.

This experience made me reflect on a more universal question: Where and how do we find God?

Whether we’ve never met God, or have been pursuing Him for decades, it’s a very real question. As His creatures, we need Him in order to thrive. Yet, as sinners in a fallen world, we struggle to connect with Him.

The good news? God wants to be found.

So where do we look for Him when He seems to elude us?

His Word

The best way to understand someone who’s physically absent is to read (or listen to) their words and their story.

The Bible is God’s Word. It contains His commands and teachings—but it also tells the story of His relationship with humanity. Rather than a rote list of rules and platitudes, it’s a library of history, poetry, wisdom, covenants, prophecy, and prayers. In it, we read what God wants, how we’re wired, and how we can connect with Him.

When we can’t see God moving in our present, we can open the Bible and remind ourselves how He moved in the past and will move in the future. When we question His character, we can read in the Bible what He is like. When we struggle to relate to Him, His Word shows us how, offering both encouragement and correction.

And no matter how many times we come back to listen, God’s Word speaks.

His People

The Bible uses many metaphors to describe the deep and multifaceted relationship between God and the Church, the collective body of Christ-followers.

One of them is that of a temple, with Christ as its foundation and His followers as its building blocks, and within which God’s Spirit lives (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Peter 2:4–5). Further, Jesus affirms that, wherever two or more of His disciples gather in His name, He’s present in a special way (Matthew 18:19–20).

Unfortunately, as sinners saved only by God’s grace, Christians don’t always behave in ways that reflect Christ. Instead of an architectural marvel, the Church often resembles a construction site.

Yet God’s people are where God has placed His name on this fallen earth. And when they live like it, He shines and moves through them.

In a healthy church, we experience God’s love, expressed from one human to another. We receive His truth through Spirit-led teaching. We witness His power in answering His children’s petitions. We observe His dealings with ordinary people who’ve put their trust in Him.

Even in individual Christ-followers, we find God’s miniature temples—because God’s Spirit dwells in each of His people, and His presence never leaves them (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Hebrews 13:5). Here again we run into human imperfection. Yet when a Christian lives like the Christ s/he follows, we glimpse His walking, talking image. And that image-bearer can point us to the God s/he serves.

And one day, by the redeeming and transforming power of God. the construction site will indeed be a glorious temple worthy of the Name it bears.

His Work

The following statement stands to reason: Where a person is working, there s/he is. If you can’t see the person, follow the signs of their activity until you do.

God is always working, and always inviting people to participate. If we’re unsure where to find Him, we can look for evidence of His work. And once we locate Him, one way we can keep close to Him is by pitching in under His direction.

To locate God at work, we must know what kind of work God does—and that requires studying the Bible, particularly Jesus’s life and teachings. Jesus did and commanded many things, but the point of all His work was (and is) to bring people into relationship with God.

Some God-commissioned tasks include:

• Sharing the gospel
• Discipling people
• Caring for people in need
• Showing hospitality to outcasts
• Ministering to the Church
• Praying for people

But we must also go a step further and discern whether God is behind a particular effort. Sometimes well-meaning people undertake ministries without God’s prompting or guidance. When that happens, they wind up neglecting God’s true assignment for them, and sometimes even cause harm.

Here again, the Bible instructs us. Among other things …

• Work that’s truly of God aligns with biblical standards and is guided by prayer.
• The fruit of such work exemplifies God-glorifying characteristics, such as integrity and spiritual health. The fruit might be small or unremarkable by human measures, but it will glorify God regardless.
• God’s work within people produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We all fall short, but someone walking “in the Spirit” will increasingly show these traits.

If you want to see God move, try doing His work. Investigate the needs around you. Assess your gifts, abilities, resources, and how you’re already serving. Think about any ways you could or would like to serve more. Pray for God to show you where and how He’d like you to serve Him.

Sometimes God seems silent because He wants us to wait while He prepares our next move. But sometimes, He seemingly steps away because He wants us to follow. Sometimes we’re trying to serve Him in the wrong way or place. Other times, He simply has a new task or location for us.

Whatever the case, keep praying, and take your cues from Him.

His Creation

A piece of art says something about the artist. While the creation isn’t the creator, it nonetheless conveys its maker’s skill, values, and personality.

As God’s artwork, the natural world is one of the most universal testaments to who God is (Romans 1:20). In it, we behold beauty, power, and complexity. We witness feats of resilience and gracefulness. We observe acts of care, loyalty, and even apparent joy.

Of course, nature is an imperfect reflection of its Creator. Because of human sin, the good world God made has fallen into chaos and decay. Not everything is as it should be.

Yet God’s fingerprints remain visible. So whenever we need a fresh dose of awe, a reminder of our status as creatures, an escape from the clutter and frenzy of manmade things, a reconnection with the rest of creation—nature is a great place to go.

Our Worship

Worship means professing God’s supreme worth. We can do this through speech or action; the key is that we’re acknowledging who God is in what we say and do.

Worship is one of the most obvious yet most easily forgotten places that we encounter God. Sometimes we neglect worship because we think it requires a certain mood (spoiler alert: it doesn’t). Other times, worship seems so simple we doubt its power to move us closer to God.

Yet, according to Psalm 22:3, God “inhabits” or “is enthroned on” His people’s praise.

It’s an interesting image. Possibly the psalmist was using an illustration from Israel’s worship rituals: Twice a day, a priest would burn incense on a small altar in the tabernacle or temple, creating a cloud of fragrant smoke that represented the people’s prayers. This cloud would rise in front of the holiest part of the sanctuary, where God’s presence dwelled before Christ came.

Regardless, the message of this and other Scripture passages is clear: Worship is integral to the God-human connection. Through worship, we approach the holy, invisible Lord of the universe.

This doesn’t mean that our praises summon God like a genie, or flatter Him into responding to us. As God, He is far above our control and flattery. He does what He wants.

But by praising Him, we remind ourselves who He is and what He’s like. That alone enables us to seek Him with clearer vision.

Further, genuine worship is an act of humility. Through worship, we acknowledge that, whatever our feelings or circumstances, God is worthy of our adoration and devotion. In admitting that, we lay aside obstacles like pride that stand between us and Him.

So, in the end, our path to finding God is clearer. And over and over in Scripture, He promises He’s close to the humble (Psalms 138:6, 149:4; James 4:6–10).

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The Great Caveat: Surrender

Sometimes, we set out to find God in all the right places, but we fail to see Him because we look with only part of ourselves. We read the Bible but only take in words. We go to church but only meet nice (or not so nice) people. We gaze on a mountain vista but see only an assortment of rocks, earth, and trees.

And so, like Orual in C.S. Lewis’s novel Till We Have Faces, we accuse God of hiding from us—and then judging us for not seeing.

Yet He promises, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13 CSB)

The truth is, finding God is almost maddeningly simple. But it’s not always easy. It requires effort, sometimes even sacrifice. Sometimes our quest takes us places we don’t want to go, reveals things about ourselves we don’t like, or challenges our assumptions about who God is.

In truly seeking God, we approach His Word with faith that it’s true. We approach His Church with faith that His Spirit dwells in its midst and moves in and among its members. We approach ministry believing God will guide and use it. We pray believing He hears and is near us. We give up time, ego, energy, and sometimes material resources to study, serve, pray, and gather with other Jesus-followers.

In short, we surrender to God. And in response, He gives us Himself.

God the Son came into the world in human form to enable us to have such a close relationship with Him. Jesus lived a sinless life and died an innocent death to atone for our sins. On the third day afterward, He rose to life to defeat death. Forty days later, He returned to heaven and sat at the Father’s right hand, where He advocates and intercedes for those who put their faith in Him. One day, He’ll return to earth to end sin, suffering, and death forever and usher in a new world under God’s reign.

Because of what Jesus did, anyone who surrenders to Him as Lord and Savior receives free, full, unhindered access to God. God forgives all their sins and credits them with Jesus’s righteousness. God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in them, equipping them to live godly lives and developing Christlikeness in them. They automatically join God’s family, the Church. And when Christ returns, God will raise and transform their bodies with glorious immortality, and they’ll live with Him forever.

If you haven’t already embraced the extraordinary privilege of knowing God through Christ, do so now! Believe what God did for you through Jesus. Confess your sins to God and repent of them. Ask His forgiveness. Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life and Savior of your soul.

Thank God for making Himself known and knowable through Christ. Keep trusting and seeking Him. And may others who seek Him glimpse Him in you.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

James 4:8a (CSB)

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Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.