Febuary 24, 2021
Psalm 34:4 (NASB) – “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
I hate it when I can’t find my keys. I hate it. Losing my keys is at the top of my, “Things that make me get into the flesh” list. The worst part about losing my keys, is the fact that we have designated specific places in our home for keys. There is absolutely no excuse for me when I lose my keys. There is a key hook. There is a key dish. A couple of years ago, my wife bought me a key bowl. A hook, a dish, and a bowl...and I still manage to lose my keys. The search for the missing keys is a combination of deductive reasoning, hippocampus brain mining, and intercessory prayer. “Where did I leave my keys? Has anyone seen my keys”?
I once lost my church keys walking from the parsonage to the church office. We are talking about a distance of maybe 100 yards. I had the church keys twirling on my finger, and I took my normal route to the church office. When I arrived at the office door, I began searching for the keyring for the key...and it wasn’t there! I was absolutely sure that it was on the key ring when I left the parsonage. Ugh!!! I was twirling the keys on my finger, and it must have slipped off somewhere between the parsonage and the office building. Ugh!!! Now the adventure begins and I begin the search. I backtracked my every step. I searched the soil and grass. I searched the bushes and the base of the trees. I searched the road and the curbs. I searched, I searched, and I searched. As the time passed, I was trying to figure out how I was going to explain this foolishness to my Church Administrator. I can feel the anxiety begin to build up inside of my chest. I expanded my search radius. I started looking in the most ridiculous of places. “Maybe it fell down into the sewer. Maybe a squirrel took it into the tree. Maybe Satan is hiding it just to mess with me.” I tracked my steps for another 30 minutes, and I found nothing. As I walked up the stairs towards the office door, I decided to look under the wooden stairs that I was standing on, and there they were. Satan did not take them. The office key fell off of the key ring right when I was about to use it. I was so relieved.
Here is the lesson that I learned that day: The intensity of searching for something is directly related to the level of importance of the thing that you are searching for. Intensity equals importance. If I lost a penny or a used candy wrapper, I do not think my search would’ve been as intense. The keys to the church office are extremely important to me. To lose them would put the security of our church office at risk. It was important for me to find those keys, and the intensity of my search proved that.
In Psalm 34:4, David writes, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” How important is the Lord to you? How important is it for you to have His presence actively influencing your life? The word “sought” used here is the Hebrew word, daras. Daras is a primitive root word that means “to tread or trample with feet.” The idea here is that when you are looking for something, your feet take you everywhere. There is no stone unturned. In the same way that I walked up and down Front Street looking for that key, daras is the explanation of my footprints all over the place. I was intently searching for the key. Is there evidence of footprints all over the place in your search for the Lord?
Look for opportunities to spend time with the Lord. Make the important decision to look for him. Look for him in your daily devotion time with Him. Look for him in those circumstances of life. Look for him in your time of worship. Remember, the intensity of searching for something (or someone) is directly related to the level of importance of the thing (or person) you are searching for.
Intensity equals importance.
Now that’s Good Word.
