Rules of Engagement – I Must be a Seeker

Greetings Dear Reader,

My final thoughts on the rules of engagement remind me of fifth grade English.  I had learned diligently that rules existed for spelling, grammar, and style.  In fifth grade if felt that all the rules changed as we learned that there are exceptions to every rule.  It really impacted my learning for a bit until I adjusted to the fact that the exceptions to the rules provided a better framework for accurate use of words.  For those who are exasperated by my very particular use of words you may trace the source to Mrs. Hare my mad as a hatter fifth grade English teacher.

So the fact that I must seek God diligently with all my heart is a very intriguing rule of engagement.  The Apostle Peter tells me that this includes research and investigation.  This means that faith and facts are not enemies but that they work together.  It is the educated mind that can seek in surety that faith has a place in our dealings with God.

We must research and investigate the way in which God wishes to relate to us.  I must seek not only in faith but with understanding of who God is and what he expects of me.  A casual approach to faith neglects my obligation to seek God on his terms.  My brother mentioned recently how important it is to constantly examine the motivations of the heart in seeking God. 

I must seek God honestly.  I cannot depend on someone else’s journey to determine my own.  I can be informed by the journey of others.  I can learn from the experiences of others in seeking and following but my journey must be my own.  I cannot reject the learning of others nor can I ignore the lies and manipulations of those who use the desire to engage God to their own ends.  People who have done this had caused many to be dishonest in seeking God.  I cannot use the failings of others to justify not being honest in my journey and seeking.  It is not acceptable for me to use lies as an excuse not to constantly seek the truth of who God is and how he wishes to engage with me.

I must seek God humbly.  I have not right to him or anything that is his.  All things are his.  I must realize that I have a nature that is prideful and self-centered.  Anything that I do that is geared toward feeding that nature is the opposite of seeking God.  Remember that we began by talking about the fact that we will engage God eventually whether we wish it or not.  So many things appose us doing that well.  The biggest opposition is our pride. 

I cannot do anything to keep the drawing of God from resonating within me.  It is a hunger that I will feed.  The problem is that if I do not feed that hunger with honest humble seeking of God then I will feed it with things that are unhealthy.  I will set up false gods that do not satisfy.  I will do things that are harmful to me to silence the pain and loneliness.  My pride will push me toward power and control to ease the gnawing truth that I am not in control.  I will drink and use drugs to keep the pain at bay.  I will use the bodies of others to feel pleasure that neither satisfies nor lasts.  I will invest my energies in trying to think that I am good when the only good I can do is found in following Christ.

The rule of engagement is not up to me and it is that I must seek God with all that I am.  I must do it endlessly with all my heart.  I must shed anything that hinders this seeking and abandon the things within me that make me hesitate to follow.  Arguing with the rules of engagement is futile.  Refusing to accept them when I know God is there is foolish.  God wants me to find him and he has created a way in spite of my great distance from him.  So I have a journey to make and I know the rules that will guide me safely on that journey.  I need only follow the rules and the one who leads.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."