Constantly in motion, ever-aware, always alert both night and day, an unseen force is shaping your life in ways you can’t imagine.
Ever-learning.
Ever-revealing.
The algorithms behind this crawler make Google look, in comparison, like a nearsighted man searching for a haystack in a needle factory.
He sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake. But I’m not referring to the jolly old elf. I’m talking about the Ultimate Search Engine. But it’s not an “it” – it’s a Person.
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139:1-10).
His is a love that pursues you – that understands your thoughts before you process them, and knows where you’re headed before you do. He hears your words before you speak them, and surrounds you with His loving, guiding, sustaining presence. And all this for a reason…
The God who seeks you wants to find you. The Spirit who follows you wants to indwell you. And if you have believed the gospel and trusted Christ as your Savior, that mission is accomplished. And now…
…the Search Engine that once pursued you now pursues God in you.
However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9).
For years I read that quotation as if God had some awesome secret surprises waiting for us, presumably mostly in heaven. I never read the next verse. The one about the Search Engine. Read this. Then read it again:
“But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).
The Spirit – the Search Engine – who once was searching for you, now is in you, searching the deep things of God. Why? So He can reveal them to those who love Him.
The Search Engine works while you are sleeping. He sometimes speaks in dreams or prepares your spirit, even while your body is resting. This morning when I woke up I was singing:
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling over death by death,
Come awake, come awake,
Come and rise up from the grave.
What was that about? It was about the Search Engine, orchestrating a spirit of praise in me, even before the coffee was made (imagine that).
The Search Engine works while you are working. I sense it all the time. Searching out. Yearning. Calming. Thinking. Probing. Sometimes I can articulate it; at other times I have no clue how to put into words where the search is crawling. But one thing is sure – He searches in order to reveal.
I should point out here, that Paul is writing about this Irresistible Force, searching out the deep things of God within the hearts of believers, to a group of people he will refer to later as a bunch of spiritual babies. Even in those blinded, carnal hearts, the Search Engine was at work, searching out the deep things of God. They just couldn’t see it or sense it.
The Search Engine is pursuing the depths of God through the simplest of experiences. Today, even as I stood awestruck at the wonder of spring – flower-spangled trees, renewed birds, leaves budding out – I sensed the Search Engine at work, exploring in the hidden places of my spirit the nature of my God.
I could sense the working of the Search Engine in the familiar voices of old friends today. In the delight of a good meal. In a yearning for deep connection or the delight of discovering spiritual truth through His word. In this and so many other ways, the Search Engine was at work in ways I was conscious of.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath my consciousness, the Search Engine is gathering up revelation of the truth, the nature, the character of God. And at just the right moment…
…spiritual truth will spring from my lips that I will be hearing for the first time, even as I speak it.
…a word of wisdom will encourage someone with understanding that could only come from the counsel of the Lord.
…someone’s excuses or defenses will be laid bare because of something I said or did and didn’t even know it was happening.
All because of the Search Engine. Seeking God’s depths through me, with or without my awareness. And ready to reveal God’s truth at just the opportune moment. And the same is true for you.
Last night I couldn’t sleep. Lights went off, but my brain and heart tuned up. The Search Engine was at work. Probing. Revealing. I literally had to get up and take notes.
Accessing the “Database”
The Search Engine is always probing. Always seeking. Always delving. And always reaching – to God, and to you – making the connection. Revealing truth. Arousing a hunger for understanding. Nothing is off limits, and at no time does He rest.
So how, then, do you access the “database?” By loving God. It is to those who love Him that the Lord reveals what He has prepared for them to see.
You love God by expressing gratitude. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by obeying His directives. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by trusting His heart. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by calling on His name. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by loving His children. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by singing His praises. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You love God by receiving His truth. As you do, you access the Search Engine.
You Don’t Have the Luxury of a Childish Heart
Those who have experienced the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ no longer have the luxury of retreating to a life of ignorance or childish self-centeredness. The Search Engine that is the Holy Spirit simply won’t allow it.
Deep is calling to deep. Your Eternal Lover is inviting you to explore the depths of His heart. Religion and routine are no substitute
That is why you find your faith being stretched.
That is why you find your life being rearranged.
That is why you find yourself exposed to frustrating or wise or motivating or needy people.
That is why you sometimes can’t sleep.
That is why you so often find yourself so hungry for more.
How can you not love a heart like His?