Seekers

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:13 (KJV)

Pascal divided people into three groups:

“There are only three kinds of persons; those who serve God, having found Him; others who are occupied in seeking Him, not having found Him; while the remainder live without seeking Him, and without having found Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the last are foolish and unhappy; those between are unhappy and reasonable.”

Notice how kind he is to seekers. People who are honestly looking for God but have not found him yet are, he says, reasonable. They are on the right track. It is uncomfortable, but it is not foolish. What is foolish, he says, is not to look at all, to go through life never asking the biggest question there is.

Pascal said something similar about how he judged others. He did not approve of those who simply praised humanity, or those who simply criticised it, or those who just amused themselves. He said, “I can only approve of those who seek with lamentation”: people who take the question seriously enough to feel it.

Why doesn’t God just make himself obvious? Pascal had thought about this a lot. He says the Bible itself talks about a hidden God. God has given enough signs to be found by those who really want to find him, but not so many that people are forced to believe against their will.

“There is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition.”

That means the question is not only “Is there enough evidence?” but also “Do I want God to be there?” Some people, if they are honest, don’t want God, because he would change things. Pascal invites us to be honest about that too.

There is a great promise for seekers in the Bible. God says through the prophet Jeremiah: you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. Jesus said, “Seek, and ye shall find.”

If you are a seeker right now, unsure, asking questions, not quite there, take heart. You are not a failure as a Christian or a bad person for having questions. You are exactly where Pascal says a reasonable person should be. Keep seeking, with your whole heart. God is not hiding to tease you. He wants to be found.

And if you already know God, remember to be patient with seekers. They are on a journey, and God is at work in it.

One thing to do this week: ask yourself honestly this week which of Pascal’s three groups you are in. Write it down. Then pray Jeremiah 29:13 back to God: “Lord, I want to seek you with all my heart. Let me find you.”