Searching for God in life is not a new thing. Actually, St. Ignatius in the 16th century said that we are called to find God in all things. We cannot be called to find God unless it is equally true that God can be found.
This might be drastically opposed to much of our experience. You may have searched for God and determined not only that He cannot be found but perhaps that God doesn’t exist at all. I mean, if God is in all things, why do really horrific things happen in the world? If God is there, why is He so hidden and mysterious? Why doesn’t God just make it obvious and a little easier for us common folk?
These are all questions we wrestle through. And many of these questions do not have sufficient answers for most of us. But even if there are questions we cannot answer, we haven’t negated the existence of God. We have only concluded that we don’t have the answers.
I find that most of our search for God and our confusion of whether God may or may not be present is rooted in the character of God. I mean, most of our questions presuppose that God is both good and He is active in the world. If we conclude that God either doesn’t exist or really doesn’t care, we wouldn’t even ask the questions.
A child estranged from their parents has a part of themselves that searches to know their parents. We could argue that the only reason they search is because culturally they are told they have parents. However, this doesn’t change their desire to know. We desire to search for God because God exists and wants to be found.
This reality, however, doesn’t make this process of searching for God any easier. In finding God, we must know what we are looking for. For example, when looking for one particular thing, we will miss everything else (like in the Test Your Awareness video). Several months ago, I heard a story of a Muslim Imam going to a Christian church service. His response, “I don’t understand. I can’t explain it. But God is here!”
Finding God is just as much searching as it is allowing ourselves to be found. We are experts at defenses, excuses, and hiding. But we cannot find God without being simultaneously found. Finding God in our lives is as much knowing who we are as it is know who God is. It is allowing God to reveal Himself to us daily.
So whether you have sought for God, grown up in a church, or have never even considered the existence of God, perhaps you can take solace in the words of a man who spent his life searching and desiring for the presence of God Himself:
“To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.” – A.W. Tozer
*Photo: The Christ Pantocrator icon painting in Moscow, 1703 by Tichon Filat’ev,