Sought After

So I worked for Family Christian Stores for almost 10 years, most recently as the store manager in Fayetteville, GA for 5.5 years.  I struggled during that time with feeling like I could not move on from that job.  I longed for weekends with the family and being more than a retail manager (I loved it and miss parts of it, just felt like that season of my life was over).  And most of all, I had a boss who I just did not click with.  We were on two different pages and I felt I knew her job better than she did (and I still do – but that’s another story).

One day, I was talking to a customer in the store about my passions of marketing and branding in ministry and the local church, and she said “we’re hiring a business manager at our church, would you be interested?”  Of course I would have jumped at just about any opportunity that was thrown my way.  So 3 months later, I started as the Business Manager at Atlanta First UMC.  It’s an amazing place with a lot of history and subsequently a lot of tradition.  Nonetheless, I finally felt sought after for my skills and abilities that I had worked all those years to obtain.

So today I was chatting online with another guy I had met along the way in my career.  He said “You could always come work for me at my church.”  It felt great to read that (and I did over and over again, but that is not where God has me right now).  Maybe it just stroked my ego more than anything else.  But we all want to be sought after.  Whether in dating, family, friendships or jobs, we all have the desire to have somebody wanting us whether it’s to talk to – to work for – to just spend time with – or to even just be our facebook friend.

Then you stop and think… I have the creator of the universe seeking after me.  He wants to know me.  For me to know him.  To talk to – to work for – and to just spend time with – and I know he’d be my facebook friend if he was into that kind of thing.

So it’s not only “who’s seeking after you” but also “who are you seeking?”  Do you care more about approval from others than you do God?   Do you spend more time seeking out others than you do getting to know God more intimately.  I know I do.  

So are we ok with that?  Do we really feel the need to change the way we go about our day?  Do we feel that if we throw out our 4.5 minutes reading My Utmost for His Highest for that morning that true connection is happening?  Is singing along mindlessly to christian radio your sole way to hear God speak?  And are you willing to look past yourself long enough to see the guy on the other side of the street that may need you – or at least your God to change his life?  This all goes back to us seeking God and letting him change us.   

We sang a great song at church today that Todd Fields wrote that goes like this (also on itunes):  

 

Help me to want you
Help me to find you
Help me to listen
to Your heart

You have been willing
I have been wandering
there is a refuge
where You are

Hold me with arms that
made the universe
and shelter my heart
with all that You are

May this be your prayer. May it be my living prayer.  
May I seek after him with the same passion that I'm sought after.
May I move out of the way so that God can work through me daily and not just when it's convenient.
And may I show the creator of the universe that I do love Him - by making Him feel sought after.