TO SEEK HIS FACE

 

Ministries of Francis Frangipane

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To Seek His Face

By Francis Frangipane

You say, "But we have humbled ourselves and prayed; we are turning from our wicked ways. Why has He not healed our land?" (See 2 Chron. 7:14.) I'm sure He has heard our prayers, but perhaps we desire our healing more than we desire God Himself. Thus there is yet one more imperative that 2 Chronicles 7:14 calls us to fulfill. The Lord said, "...and seek My face."

Beloved, when the Lord called David to seek His face, David responded, "Your face, O Lord, I shall seek" (Ps. 27:8). This is the essence of one who has "a heart after God." We seek God for His heart, not merely His hand. We have asked Him to extend His hand, to touch and heal us. But the Lord, in His great love for us, desires we seek His face.

Thus, the Holy Spirit bids us to draw near to God. His Word promises that, as we draw near to Him, He will Himself draw near to us. It is the nearness of His Spirit that descends upon us and, through us, heals our land.

Again the Lord speaks, "I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me" (Hos 5:15).

Together, using the very words provided us by Hosea as our template, the Lord even gives us words with which we respond, "Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but he will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him" (Hos 6:1-2).

Yes, even the prophet Hosea encourages us with his words as well, "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth'' (Hos. 6:3).

Is this not the very cry of your heart, that the living presence of God would saturate the dryness of your soul? Come to us, O Lord, like the rain watering the earth!

Therefore, we conclude that it is time to seek God. We urge every pastor to guide their church and every parent to lead their family into an attitude of seeking God. Consecrate a room in your church or home and call it the "tent of meeting." It is right, beloved, and timely, to seek after God.

"Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp" (Exod. 33:7).

Everyone who sought the Lord entered the tent of meeting. Dear friends, the Holy Spirit shall help us. For the mission of the Spirit is, summarily, to lead us into the presence of Jesus. And this He will do until Christ is as real to us as the world was when we were sinners.

The Promise of God

Is it possible that we can be delivered of a superficial life? Yes. For the Spirit He has given us, dwells within us, and He "searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10).

If you are weary of a life without God's fullness, then seeking the Lord may be a turning point in your walk with Him. Our hope rests in the integrity of His immutable word: "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you" (Jer. 29:12-14).

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, my soul yearns and even longs for Your courts. Guide me into Your holy presence, dear Lord. Let me find You again in a new way. I cannot live without Your constant love. I am desperate for You, Jesus. Restore my longing for You until I find You, and in finding You, abandon myself totally into Your love. Amen.