1 Chronicles 16:11
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”
Thoughts from Pastor Stuart
Dive Deeper
Behind the Scenes
This verse falls in a longer passage where David assigns Asaph and his relatives to go and give thanks to the Lord. Asaph was the newly appointed chief priest assigned to minister before the Ark of God in 1 Chronicles 6. Not a small task or small calling to be sure!
So, before Asaph and the other priests were to start their ministry, David commands them to worship God. See, he rightly understood that before these men would be ready to do the work God had called them to do, they needed to come before the Lord with thanksgiving and praise. They needed to align their hearts in the right direction.
David implores them to call upon the name of God, to seek His strength and to constantly be seeking His face. David realizes that the only way these men can do the enormous task before them is if their eyes are on the true source of strength.
Make it Real
Each and every one of us that is a parent can relate to the precipice these men stood on. Faced with an enormous calling that was far above them, they had a choice: turn to God and His strength or turn inward and to their own strength. We, too, as parents have this same choice to make. Being a parent is hard; there’s no doubt about that. So we need something that is stronger than ourselves to ever hope to carry out this great calling.
I love that David reminded the priests to seek. It wasn’t a passive command. He encouraged them to seek and to seek continually. Don’t stop seeking. See, seeking requires intentionality and understanding that we need something we don’t already have. It takes work and means pursuing an answer even when it’s hard. Seeking continually means that when we seek and find we don’t stop seeking.
You may be in a sweet spot in your parenting (or in your marriage, friendships, work, etc. The principle applies to every area of life!) But we can’t let the current answers keep us from seeking the future ones. We need more of God, every day in every way. Keep seeking God even when things are good.
You may be in a difficult spot where you feel discouraged, weighed down, and frustrated. Keep seeking God even when it’s hard and you can’t find your way. Don’t give up hope. He is worth seeking and His truth is worth seeking.
You might be somewhere between the two. Wherever you are… keep seeking Him.
There is nothing in this world that is worth seeking like He is. So wherever you find yourself today, keep seeking. Keep turning to Him and allowing Him to be your source of strength. Don’t give up and don’t let your focus wander off Him. Because, friends, we’ve got some really important work to do, and we can’t hope to do it without Jesus!
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Team Lead
End in Prayer
Lord,
I want to seek You in everything I do. Show me what that looks like. Help me to recognize the areas that I am relying on my strength and not Yours. You are what I need!
In Jesus name,
AMEN!