What does it mean to find God?

Response

To “encounter God” is a vague term that can have different meanings for different individuals. Some equate encountering God with embracing a religion, regardless of which one. For others, encountering God involves “transforming one’s life,” often with divine assistance. Occasionally, it is used disparagingly to depict a spiritual change of uncertain genuineness. In any scenario, encountering God entails a shift in one’s mindset and/or conduct.

Numerous figures in the Bible earnestly pursued an encounter with God. In his anguish, Job lamented, “If only I knew where to encounter God, I would present my case before His tribunal” “Oh that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come even to His seat!”, (Job 23:3). The sons of Korah expressed their longing to encounter God: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).

From a biblical perspective, encountering God involves accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Only through Jesus can one approach God “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” , (John 14:6), and embracing Christ leads to a spiritual metamorphosis “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”, (2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus, encountering God involves acknowledging one’s need for salvation and placing faith in Christ. The restThe result of finding God is living the Christian life.

The Bible says that we do not naturally seek God (Psalm 14:2-3). God commands us to forsake our sin and seek Him (Isaiah 55:6-7). Those who seek and find God receive mercy and goodness (Psalm 9:10; Psalm 22:26). The Israelites had God’s promise that if, in the midst of their exile, they sought to find God, they would surely find Him «But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. », (Deuteronomy 4:29).

God wants to be found. He delights in mercy and forgiveness, and He is close to all who would call on Him. As Paul taught, “God [deals with us] so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” «that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: », (Acts 17:27).