A Flaw In One of God's Promises

I know Jesus said it. And therefore I believe it. But there is a flaw in the promise of God "seek and you will find."

Yesterday I met with a man who is a recovering alcoholic. God is using and has used his battle with alcoholism to bring him to the edge of salvation. But he's struggling with it. He wants to believe. He prayed to believe. Maybe this morning he is there. But last night he wasn't.

I remarked that I was confident that as he sought God (as he does by meeting with me, coming to church, attending AA meetings, meeting with his sponsor, a therapist....), he will find God. I told him it's a promise from Jesus.

Then he said, "A number of years ago I was running on the Sawyer Camp Trail. I used to sometimes get moments of spiritual clarity. And there was a time I was close to embracing Jesus and accepting him. And I remember running one day and stopping. And I don't want to call it a voice. But a message hit me and washed over me. And it was God speaking. And he said, 'if you seek me, you will find me.'"

My friend then finished the run. And chose not to seek. And so hear we are 10 years later (I'm guessing) and the edge again.

I haven't looked up the Greek to see the grammatical syntax of the verse where Jesus says "seek and you will find." But in English the rendering makes us think it means do it once and it will be done. Seek for a week or a season.

But I think perhaps the truth is we have to always be seeking God. We have to be persistent. Not easily discouraged. And I believe that is true before we become Christians in order to get over the gulf of faith. And I also believe it is true after we become Christians.

The seeking is never something that finishes. We can never say "I sought God and found him." It is always a continuous seeking.