“My heart says of You, ‘Seek his face!’. Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
Psalm 27:8
This invitation is for us to live a faith centered on relationship, not merely on benefits.
Seeking God is the most precious calling for the Christian. However, many times we run the risk of seeking only what He can give us, and not Who He is. We focus on His blessings rather than His presence.
The hand or the face?
“In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death!’”
Exodus 16:2–3
The “hand of God” is often associated with His works, provisions, and miracles. The “face of God,” however, points to intimacy, presence, and communion. Seeking only the hand can turn us into utilitarian Christians, interested in what God does, rather than in Who He is.
Israel experienced this danger in the desert. God parted the sea, sent manna, water, and protection, yet the people constantly complained and distanced themselves from His presence. This shows that miracles do not sustain faith, but intimacy with God does.
To truly know God shifts the focus from what He can give to the necessity of having more intimacy and closeness with Him, because He is far greater than what fits in His hands.
When we seek the face of the Lord, we find something beyond provision. We find God Himself, and that completely transforms our hearts.
A relationship that sustains
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:17–18
God’s blessings may change with the seasons of life, but His presence remains constant. If our focus is only on His hand, our faith crumbles in times of scarcity. But when we seek His face, we find strength even in difficulties, for we need no further proof of what He can do—we already know Who He is.
Our joy cannot be based on what we have and receive, but on what is being cultivated within us through a relationship with the Father.
This is what sustains us in silence, in waiting, and even in loss. The face of God is the assurance of His presence, and that is the greatest gift we could receive. Every loss and lack then become bridges to the feet of Christ, drawing us nearer to His Kingdom.
Called to seek
“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”
Psalm 105:4
Seeking Him leads us into a life of prayer, worship, and daily surrender, naturally. Seeking the face of God means placing intimacy above blessing, and worship above self-interest.
When we prioritize the relationship, we learn that everything we need is in Him. We have our human needs, and our daily lives require responsibility and effort.
You have your home, your work, your family, ministries, and many other things depending on you. But without the strength and enabling of God, we cannot go far.
He knows everything you need, and He will provide each part of it through your daily effort and step of faith. But we must focus our human strength on God so that we may be strengthened by Him.
God desires that we love Him for Who He is, not just for what He can do (though naturally we receive as we draw closer to Him). When we seek His face—the essence of Who He is—we discover that His presence is the true reward, and there is nothing greater than that.
