“They sought the Lord eagerly and He was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.” (2 Chronicles 15:15 NIV)
This verse is still sticker-burred to my soul. I woke up thinking about it again this morning. What I didn’t share on yesterday’s blog is still scribbled in my notebook: What does it look like for me to earnestly seek Him? How do I follow after Him wholeheartedly?
This morning as I pondered these questions, I pictured a cut-out cookie being piped with royal icing. No, I’m not battling sugar cravings at 6am, I truly felt like it was an image from the Lord. See, if you were going to intricately decorate a cookie, you begin on the edges. You take the icing bag and work the edges first, essentially creating a wall around the perimeter of the sweet treat. Then you come back in with a slightly moister icing in the center of the cookie and amazingly, the border holds. The icing fills in and self-levels across the surface of the cookie. They call this process piping and flooding. Now, sugar cookies aren’t my specialty, but I have watched dozens of videos online. Royal icing on sugar cookies is a satisfying business for sure!
You can learn more about the pipe and flood process here.
This quest for wholehearted living points me back to the Daily Office. (Which, I finally finished that book last week and I already miss it’s presence in my mornings!) Last night, I chose to read on my Bible app in the last few moments of the day. In the light of day today, I compared it’s value against my usual late night facebook scroll or instagram reels. I fell asleep with God thoughts instead of worldly concerns. And then, of course, you all know my morning routine: coffee and Jesus before people and commitments.
When I pictured the cookie being piped and flooded; I thought about the ends of my day as borders. My waking time is bookended, just as yours is. We begin the day from under our covers and we end curling up in the bed once more. What if we invited God into those first and last moments? What if we prioritized our time with Him on the borders of the day, spiritually piping ourselves in: wouldn’t it make way for Him to flood every hour in between?
I paused right there in prayer and asked God to fill my life with Him. Then I turned to scripture, focusing on this word ‘fill’.
“May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 NLT)
Whoa. My prayer precisely. God wants us to want Him. He desires us to desire Him. And He promises to meet that desire with more of Himself. But wait, there’s more!
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.” (Psalm 81:10 NIV)
This isn’t Exodus and we aren’t talking about physical manna. This is a psalm about the the constant pull to worship other gods and how the LORD God is telling His people: “Hey, forsake them and turn to Me… Trust me to fill you up with all you need.”
I think about my phone and all the temptations that lie therein: likeablity, acquisition, entertainment, distraction. These tasty treats don’t hold up next to the presence of the Almighty. God alone offers us so much more than temporary pleasures. He offers us fullness.
“He fills my life with good things.” (Psalm 103:5 NLT)
Anything the world offers us will only, inevitably cause us to hunger and thirst again. The Lord alone will sate our appetite entirely.
If we will pipe off the edges of our day and fully focused on God’s presence in those most critical hours, I believe He’ll flood the rest of our day with His power. Here are some considerations:
- Remove FB and IG from your phone. Access social media in limited sessions via computer or tablet. Set a timer if it helps. Reassign the wasted time for devotions, prayer, scripture memorization or reflection.
- Develop a Daily Office: regular devoted times of intentional quieting and scripture feasting.
- Track your hours on electronics. Your phone can give you this information in settings under ‘screentime’. Note how much television you take in. Intentionally shut it off the noise and seek God instead.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see areas of excess or disproportionate devotion in your life. Respond to His leading in reprioritizing around your desire for God.
Seeking the Lord eagerly is worth the investment, my friend. Scripture tells us, we find rest when we find Him. Rest from anxiety, frustration, politics, and fear. We find God to be enough when we set our hearts on Him alone.
Lord, help us in this eager seeking. We seem to spend ourselves on every lesser thing. Forgive us. Show us the areas where we have room to reprioritize You. Help us tack down the edges of our day in Your presence and please fill the hours in between beginning and end. Pour Your Spirit into our lives and cover ever square inch of who we are. We want to live wholehearted after You. Amen.
