My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. —Psalm 27:8 (niv)
Of all things to be pondering while I was running, I was asking myself what it meant to seek the Lord’s face. The phrase pops up all over Scripture, “to seek the Lord’s face,” but how do you seek the face of someone you can’t see?
“Good morning,” I called to a neighbor. “Keep it up.” She used to be a walker and now was jogging. Pretty impressive. She deserved all the encouragement I could muster.
“You too,” she called back to me.
I turned the corner and spotted a barefoot man with a dog picking mulberries off the tree and eating them. “Taste good?” I asked as I huffed and puffed. He nodded and smiled.
Going up the hill, I caught the glorious scent of cut grass, the blades brushing against my shoes. “Morning,” I said to the man I see every morning when I jog. Same spot, same time. Today he was wearing a T-shirt with Martin Luther King Jr.’s portrait on it. “Nice shirt,” I said. He waved.
Out of the park, heading back, I saw my neighbor Michael running toward me. His wife had a very scary cancer diagnosis three months ago. I’ve been praying for her and for him. What a roller coaster. I reversed my steps and ran with him for a block. “How’s she doing?” I asked.
“She got her first treatment this week,” he said. “It’s just a pill. They don’t have to do it intravenously, so she can go to work afterward. They’re going to try it for three weeks.”
“I will keep hoping,” I said. “And praying.”
Had I seen the Lord’s face? Not exactly. But in seeking it, I had seen His presence in mulberries, joggers, T-shirts, cut grass, and the care of doctors treating a friend.
One thing I ask of You, Lord, one thing I seek: to know Your presence day by day.
Written by Rick Hamlin
Digging Deeper: 1 Chr 16:10; Ps 27
