Blessed by Seeking Him First
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
I believe Matthew 6:33 is the key to success in life and I’m not afraid to share this truth with other people because I want them to understand it and benefit from it. By claiming this scripture, I’ve realized what it means to live the abundant life Jesus spoke about in the Gospel. I’ve had more joy, seen my personal anxieties wane and watched my marriage improve throughout the years. I believe it’s all because I made the things of God my priority.
When God called me to put the Pearls of Promise Devotional together, I did it as an act of obedience. I was seeking him first. He laid out the details of what he wanted me to do and it was hard work, first gathering the devotionals, then editing the book. I am thankful to our Pearls team, Lisa Mick, Catherine Weiskopf and Lisa Mick’s mother, Peggy Stone, the editor extraordinaire, for all their hard work as well. They caught the vision! As books go, it was a fairly short process, only taking six months from start to finish, but I believe the process was shortened because God’s hand was in it the entire way.
Over the past week, the Lord has made it very clear this devotional belongs to him. Doors have opened at bookstores, radio stations, radio internet shows and newspapers. However something quite unusual happened in our book marketing trip to San Antonio that I have to share. I believe it was heavenly confirmation that we are on God’s path, not ours. At every restaurant we ate at or place we visited, the waiter or person we met had a Biblical name. After the first couple we took notice and began to look for it when we’d enter a location. Our first waiter was Micah, the next was Daniel, then there was Samuel and Justis, (the name of the man Paul considered a friend and whose home he used as his synagogue); after that, Jesus served us. Appropriately, we wrapped up our trip with Emmanuel. If I had to summarize the message God was sending us through these names, it would go like this: As we continue to reach women for Christ, we should be holy and merciful (Micah), not be afraid to stand for the truth (Daniel), listen to God for his direction (Samuel), be a place of refuge for our Christian sisters (Justis), always serve others (Jesus) and remember that as we make our journey, God is with us (Immanuel).
When I look at this message, I realize if we follow it, we have accomplished our call to seek God first. Is he at the center of your life? Is he your priority before anything else? Seeking God first is the prerequisite for bountiful blessings that he’s waiting to pour out on you.