Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7.

The Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8 NKJV.

I loved this in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “The spiritual life starts at the place where you can hear God’s voice. Where somehow you can claim that long before your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your school, your church touched you, loved you, and wounded you – long before that, you were held safe in an eternal embrace. You were seen with eyes of perfect love long before you entered into the dark valley of life. The spiritual life starts at the moment that you can go beyond all of the wounds and claim that there was a love that was perfect and unlimited, long before that perfect love became reflected in the imperfect and limited, conditional love of people. The spiritual life starts where you dare to claim the first love. “Love one another because I have loved you first” (see John 4:19).”

As I was sitting in prayer after reading our chapter, Hosea 4, I admitted that I was feeling overwhelmed because it’s all too big for me. As I sit with Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, in prayer, I am in a sacred, spacious place and it is so good. And as soon as I let my mind wander to the state of us in this world, I realize it’s all the same in every generation of men. We think we are so sophisticated because we don’t worship golden calves. Do we truly worship God? And He told me to lay down worry and despair…to remember I AM, Trust I AM, Believe I AM, and that He walks with me. I can turn to Him all the time! And isn’t that the message in God’s word to us? And that message is given because we turn away from Him every day, and all the days of mankind in this world broken by sin. Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are all swept away. But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother – My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as My priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The more priests there were, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins of My people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.” v. 1-9. It goes on to describe the prostitution practiced in the shrines of the gods they worship instead of worshiping God. “I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes – a people without understanding will come to ruin!”…”A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.” v. 14, 19. That whirlwind was Assyria 20 years after this was written. Israel was defeated and taken away, never to return to that land again.

Do you see the problems in this world today? Can we put it together that as we don’t turn to Creator God the problems in the world multiply? The distress in our souls increases and we are undone and lost. And it doesn’t have to be that way. But first we need to see. We need to connect the dots, all of them. And if you long for help to understand, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. There is a way that stands and is true. There is hope and help. Jesus came to show us the way to the Father and He sent the Spirit after His resurrection to help us until that time that He returns to bring God’s Kingdom to earth. God’s Kingdom is not like any kingdom of men here today, not yours and not mine, and if we are glorifying our kingdom or any other kingdom, we glorify what is wrong in this broken world. But take heart! Through everything…turn to Creator God for a better way not of this broken world’s systems! He is here. Always! If you ask, He will walk along beside you and help you return to the way of Life. Jesus taught the people listening then, and He tells us now in His word written for us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.