Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” See also Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Sometimes a light surprises us. We move about our routines in the dimness of the mundane world. The wear and tear of time and toil dulls our senses and our sensibilities. The effect is seen all around us. I watched a young worker enter a new job full of zest and energy. The environs and personalities encountered all seemed ripe with potential. A few months later each day was difficult to grind in a wasteland of jaded cynicism. Then, on an ordinary afternoon, this dreary soul looked up from an unremarkable position in the outside lawn and garden section of a big box home improvement store and saw the late autumn sky open before them. A feeling of transcendence came over them washing away the residue of drudgery from their hearts. They were surprised to see a light in that dark place.
A Concise Seek and Find Bible Study
How did the miracle come to pass? How was it that something wonderful appeared in the middle of a nondescript workaday, in a nondescript job? It is a secret many of us would like to know, as many of us would like to escape the confines of our dreary existence and live once more in the vibrant colors and melodic rhythms of the joyous days. We all wish an end to the tyranny of greyscale, and the violence of tuneless droning. O yes beloved, for many of us the days are themselves an agony. How does it end?
The truth is simple; so simple we often neglect it. We lose sight of it in the apparent complexities of modern living, yet it is still there. Behind all the moments of our days is the mighty hand of God directing. The sky is a canvas and the places we pass through a stage. The people are not there by accident, the events are not random. There is nothing mundane, for in everything God is at work. See Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
How do we see God in the lawn and garden section of a home improvement store? We look for Him. God is not trying to hide from us. He wants us to see Him everywhere and to be aware of Him always. That is why He tells us of His all-encompassing presence again and again throughout the Bible. You see friends, seeing is not believing so much as believing is seeing. We miss the transmundane because we are not looking, and we are not looking because we did not truly believe it was to be found.
Now, one important detail of our story was omitted, this soul who looked up from work and caught sight of wonder had been praying for hours. He had begged for relief, for the favor of God. He sought and behold he found. Sadly, he did not do so well the next day or the next.
Life has a way of pushing us away from the transcendent. The frantic flow of the crowds around us presses us into conformity with the mundane. So, there is a discipline to observance of the freeing truth. See Colossians 3:1-3, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, and Philippians 4:5-9:
- Colossians 3:1-3: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
- Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5: “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
- Philippians 4:5-9: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
In all these admonitions the meaning is to continually do; each moment set your mind on things above, always be renewing your mind, keep on taking every thought captive, continue to make your request known to God, and keep your focus on the good.
We do not renew our minds in a single instance, with freedom from anxiety with one prayer, or find peace in a single good thought. Patterns of obedience empowered by the sanctifying grace of Christ are the key to transcending the mundane. Seeking and continuing to seek, looking always for the God who is there and who is not silent.
At this point I confess I feel foolish for writing something so simple, as it really is the difference between disallowing the worldly thoughts, “I cannot wait for this shift to end…” and replacing it with, “My God you paint the most wonderful pictures in the skies.” Yes, it is very simple, but simplicity does not mean ease.
It is incredibly difficult to shift those thoughts. O, but if we will make a consistent effort, we will have the help of the Triune God and the reward of seeing a glimpse of His transcendence in and amidst the mundane. There is more to say, and someday when this writer has learned the way better, he hopes to share it with you all. See Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
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