“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

If ever there was a time to seek God, it is now.  I am of the persuasion that a man ought always seek the Lord; I have made it a daily effort.  But for all people everywhere, I believe this is a word from God; it is time to seek the Lord.  He is making Himself available, He is near to America right now.  Let us not miss the opportunity.  

It has been said that when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself, you must respond during the lifetime of the opportunity (Graham Cooke).  That is to say, an opportunity is not forever.  The word is, “while He may be found.”  It is, “while He is near.”  In other words, a time comes when He may not be found, when He is not near.  

The whole of the nation is shut down, with people in most states forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus scare.  Most have time on their hands they have never had.  Perhaps we should ask ourselves why–why is this happening to us?  I say that whether this (the virus) be of God, the devil, or is a purely natural thing (like a cold or the ‘regular’ flu), it is a time designated by God to take stock of our lives (2 Corinthians 13:5), to consider our ways (Haggai 1:7), and to seek the Lord (Hosea 10:12).  I think you will agree with me, that right now it is not ‘business as usual.’  

I say “designated by God.”  There is not a doubt in my mind that what we are experiencing, not only here in the U.S., but worldwide, is a clarion call to return to the Lord our God.  It is a time to wake up, just as the apostle wrote,

“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12).

Isaiah put it this way,

“Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon” (55:7).

This is what it means to seek the Lord:  we turn from our wicked ways, we forsake our unrighteous thoughts, we turn to God for forgiveness.  

What?  Our wicked ways?  Our unrighteous thoughts?  

The late Jim Russell put it right when he pointed out that all sin is wicked in the sight of a holy God–not just the things that most consider wicked.  In his book Awakening the Giant, he admitted to a host of what he called subtle sins, a lengthly list that he, a godly man, was guilty of.  What I mean to say is that we all have things to forsake, even the best among us.  If this time is anything, it is a time to turn from these things–personally and as a nation–and turn to God.

This is especially true for Christians:

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Notice it reads, “If My people”–Christians.  

The Lord puts it in perspective for us, saying, 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

If we Christians think otherwise, that these words do not pertain to us, that we are exempt, we must think again.  For the apostle John writes,

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8, 10).

However, the good news is that, 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

That is to say, if we will tell God the sins we are aware of, He will take care of those we are not aware of.  

Therefore, these things being so, let us turn to God–all of us, seeking Him out.  May His thoughts replace ours, and His ways become ours.  This is the reason for the season we are in; this is the will of God for the here and now.  We have a precious opportunity afforded us; let us not squander it.