The God Who Seeks

In the Bible, we often talk about people seeking God. We talk about how to pray, how to follow, how to draw near to Him. But the real story of Scripture begins not with man seeking God, but with God seeking man. From Genesis to Revelation, we see a God who searches, who calls, who pursues His people. All religion is man’s search for a God in his image. Christianity is God’s search for man to restore him to His image.

Today, I want us to look at three ways God seeks us—and why that matters for us and for the church today.

# God Seeks the Sinner

When Adam sinned, God didn’t abandon him. God came into the garden asking, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). That’s the very first question God asks in the Bible. Not “What have you done?” or “Why did you disobey?” but “Where are you?”—a question of relationship, not accusation.

Again, when Cain kills his brother Abel, God comes and asks, “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9). God was seeking Cain even after he had done something terrible. This shows us something about God’s heart—He is not hunting for sinners to punish them, but seeking them to redeem and restore them.

The sad truth is both Adam and Cain hide instead of repent. They do not return to God. Contrast that with David. When the prophet Nathan confronts him, David doesn’t hide. He says, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). That is why David, though flawed, is called a man after God’s own heart.

We see this contrast, again, in the New Testament. Judas and Peter both betray Jesus. But one despairs and ends his life. The other weeps bitterly, repents, and is restored. And Jesus entrusts Peter to strengthen the others and lead the early church.

So what kind of heart is God seeking? A contrite heart, a heart that is quick to repent and turn back. That’s what repentance means—to turn away from wickedness and return to God.

We, the church, must never forget this. Too often, the church builds walls that keep “sinners” outside. But God is always seeking sinners, not excluding them. The call of the church is not to condemn, but to seek and save the lost, just as Jesus did. And in doing so, we must remember that we too are sinners in need of grace.

# God Seeks the Change Maker

The second way God seeks man is when He is about to bring change. When He wants to do something new, He looks for someone willing to listen and obey.

In the Old Testament, God calls Samuel, a small boy living under the care of Eli. Eli’s own sons have corrupted the priesthood, and Eli has failed to discipline them. But God finds Samuel, a child, and speaks to him in the night.

At first, Samuel thinks it’s Eli calling him. But Eli, to his credit, guides the boy to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10) That one response changes the course of Israel’s history. Samuel becomes the prophet who anoints the first two kings of Israel and ushers in a new era.

In the New Testament, we see another kind of calling in Saul of Tarsus—a man bent on destroying the church. Yet on the road to Damascus, Jesus meets him and changes everything. Saul becomes Paul, the greatest missionary and theologian of the early church.

God is still seeking change makers today. People who will listen when He speaks, even if they are young, unlikely, or even opposing Him. We should pray that God raises up such people from among our children, from among those who oppose the church, from unexpected places. Because that is how God works—He seeks, transforms, and sends.

# God Seeks the Hard-Hearted Within the Church

Finally, God seeks even those who already know Him but have hardened their hearts. Sometimes the most resistant people to God’s voice are not the ones outside the church, but inside it.

Think about Jonah. God calls him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah runs in the opposite direction. God doesn’t let him go. He sends a storm, a fish, and a second chance. God is relentless in seeking Jonah, not only for Nineveh’s sake but for Jonah’s repentance too. Even with that hard heart, Jonah changes the direction of a city.

Or take Peter again. In Acts 10, he has a vision of a sheet filled with animals considered unclean. God tells him to eat, but Peter refuses, saying, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” God replies, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15)

That vision leads Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles—something unthinkable for a Jewish believer. Jonah resisted and grudgingly obeyed, but Peter eventually yielded, and through his obedience the gospel reached the nations.

Sometimes God calls us to do things we’ve never done before, things that feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar. But when we obey, the result is greater repentance, greater harvest, greater miracles.

# The God Who Still Seeks

From Eden to today, God has been seeking—

• the sinner who needs repentance,
• the change maker who will obey His call,
• and the believer who has grown hard-hearted.

The question is not whether God is seeking us. The question is, will we respond?

Will we say like Samuel, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”?
Will we turn back like David, “I have sinned against the Lord”?
Will we obey like Peter, “If You call it clean, I will not call it unclean”?

Because the story of Scripture is not about humanity reaching up to God. It is about God reaching down to us—calling, restoring, and sending us for His purpose.

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Image: Jonah and the Whale (1621) by Pieter Lastman