March 14: Seek God's Face

by Marissa Danney

Psalm 27: 7-9

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! “Come,” my heart says, “seek God’s face!” Your face, LORD, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me.

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves."                                                                  -Rilke

Seeking usually seems to involve a lot of questions.

Who is God? Where is God? Can I know God?

These are all questions that begin the search for God. When I read, “’Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek God’s face!’” I hear an affirmation of the winding journey of spirituality. It involves questions and sometimes answers, but it’s the seeking that our heart urges us towards.

This is the opposite of the traditional Christian rule: “Don’t question!” That rule implies that to ask questions of God, or to question the existence of God shows a lack of faith.

As Rilke says, we must love the questions. Often the questions actually point to a deeper faith. It is out of this faith that we are able to seek new understanding.

To ask, “Is God all-knowing?” shows the humble knowledge that we are not all-knowing.

“Where is God?” implies that we believe that God is somewhere, and we want to find God’s presence!

“Can I know God?” comes from a desire to know God in a way that we hadn’t before.

The answers to the questions will come with time, as many things do.

In the meantime, we can love the questions that reveal the truth of our diligent seeking of God.

Come close to us God.

Do not hide your face from us,

but kindle questions within that lead us to find you in new ways.

Amen.