We’ll leave the door open

On a recent Come Alongside Trip, the first Stop Along the Way was at the new home of friends. They’d just settled into bricks-and-sticks after 18-months of  RV-Living. A couple of months back, they’d texted me that their offer on a wonderful house had been accepted. I immediately entered the address into my contact list. I couldn’t wait to see it.

Like any good guest coming from out of town, I kept them posted on my ETA. I texted one last time when I was about 20 minutes out. I wasn’t surprised to find the door ajar when I arrived. They knew I was coming. I knocked lightly and went on in.

Something was wrong

My brain immediately seemed to split in half. One part stayed stubbornly chained to my expectations while the other part began to process my observations. My psychology professor daughter calls this cognitive dissonance.  I’ll call it confusion.

Expectation: I’d be greeted by my friend and her four kids.
Observation: No one greeted me.
Confusion: They must be in the backyard. They must be hiding. They’re going to jump out and surprise me. This is weird.

Expectation: The house will be warm, colorful and casual, with evidence of four kids and a dog.
Observation: Sparse. Plastic-covered furniture. No toys. No noise.
Confusion: Has my friend drastically changed? She said she was ready for me. No one lives here. I’m in the wrong place! I can’t be in the wrong place. The address is on my phone!

I texted my friend.

Me: Are you here?
Her: Yes!
Both of us: Where are you?

In the Wrong Place

I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now. I was in the wrong house. Worse. I was in the wrong town.

I totally missed the memo about the offer falling through and everything that followed—including finding another house one town over–about 25 minutes away.

I laughed all the way to the interstate.

This is so me. I stubbornly cling to my expectations, even when every observation tells me I’m in the wrong place. I do it when I’m looking for my friends. I do it when I can’t find God in my circumstances.

I call, “Where are You, God!”

Oh, did I leave out that part? Yes, I went from room to room in that empty house, calling out to my friends, “Come out, come out! Wherever you are!”

My friends weren’t hiding. They were right where they were supposed to be. I was the one in the wrong place.

When I finally asked, “Are you here?” I got my answer.

God doesn’t hide either. He’s always where He’s supposed to be. If we seek Him with our whole heart, we’ll find Him.

We just need to be sure we’re not stubbornly insisting we’re in the right place when we’re actually in Irving, and God’s waiting for us in Dallas.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NASB95)

How to find God

I know my friends. I had been in their home. I know their ways. That’s why I had the feeling I was in the wrong house from the beginning. I just had to accept that what I knew about them and what I was seeing in the house did not match up.

The best way to find God is to know Him and His ways.

The best way to find God is to know Him and His ways. How do we do that?

1. We read His story (the Bible) and we hear what He says, we see how He is with His people, and we learn His promises.
2. We hang out with His people (the Church) and we hear about how He is with them and what they’ve learned about Him.
3. We experience Him at work (life). Once we know what His ways look like we’ll recognize them in our own life.
4. We talk with Him (prayer) and He confirms whether what we see and hear is from Him — through His story, His people, and His Holy Spirit.

God doesn’t hide. He’s ready to welcome us. He wants us to know Him. If we seek Him, we’ll find Him.

By the way, when I got to the right house in the right town, my friend’s older girls were hanging over the balcony smiling and waving. I knew I was in the right place. They were there.