Seek and You Will Find – A Universal Law of God

This posting is about one of the Universal Laws of God; a Holy promise, a Holy Commitment from the Creator to us which says that if you seek, you WILL find. Words matter. In the course of my path, I was struck with the commitment the Father made through Jesus said when he said, “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.”

Words matter. When I was in the corporate world we would at times have to review Statements of Work (SOWs) for new government contracts and then write proposals to meet the requirements in the SOW. So, we would pour over the SOW looking for each and every “will” and “shall”, as in “The contractor shall maintain a Quality System…”. Every “will” and “shall” was a serious contractual requirement which had to be met, every time, all the time. So, in Jesus words, I saw for the first time this commitment, this holy commitment from the Creator to his children that if we seek, we WILL find.

As I described previously, after I came to realize that I could only go so far with my linear, rational mind alone, I surrendered and one day prayed out-loud, “God, if you are real, I am willing to listen”. And then for a time, I would have an impulse to study Proverbs, after that an impulse to study Psalms, then the Gospel of John, then the other Gospels and the letter of Paul. I always felt a kind a constant drive, a constant hunger for understanding. At that time, the internet didn’t exist so whenever I would go with my family to a mall, my wife would take my daughters shopping and I would browse the book stores. I would just follow my instinct. Sometimes I would go to the religion sections, sometimes spiritual and sometimes psychology/self-help. I would browse the shelves and some book would catch my interest. I’d read the jackets and it always seemed easy to decide which one I should purchase and study.

Initially, the books I felt drawn to were in my comfort zone, were familiar, did not challenge any of my existing beliefs or at the most went only a wee bit beyond my existing beliefs. But “beliefs” is probably not the best term, perhaps a better term is awareness or consciousness, because from a religious perspective, I had previously let go of all of the religious doctrines/beliefs I had been raised with.

After a time, I was drawn to books which mainstream Christians might either ignore or outright reject. But looking back, they were all positive steps on my path. There were multiple times on the early path, when I felt sure that I had found the ultimate teaching, feeling at the time nearly certain that I would never find anything that would surpass this. Some were not that far out, like the “Conversations with God” books. Some were for me at the time more of a stretch, like the books “Seth Speaks” which is a series of books of channeled messages.

Looking back, everything that I was attracted to and studied was exactly what I needed at that point time on my path in order to take the next step on my path. Perhaps it might not have been what I would recommend to anyone now, but at the time it was exactly what I personally needed on my personal path. Sometimes this path led me to a valuable insight on how God’s laws and how life really works. Like the Law of Free-Will and its balancing counter-part, the Law of Karma (“As you sow, so shall you reap). Sometimes I was led to something to just open my mind to ideas and concepts to which previously I may have been somewhat closed-minded.

Synchronicity?

I found some lessons just by following an impulse, like, “Go ahead and read the book of Proverbs” or the impulse to pick up a certain book at the book store. But there were also points on my path, where I really needed something but I wasn’t aware I needed it, so I couldn’t ask for it. For example, maybe I needed to become aware of something completely new to me, something I had never thought about before because it was beyond my current level of consciousness. At these times I would be led to what I needed seemingly by sheer dumb luck. At least that’s what it seemed like at the time. But what I realize now is that these events weren’t random after all because of the profound effect each one had on my path and helped to accelerate me when I really needed it. These experiences were something I really needed,  but I wasn’t aware enough to ask for them. Here’s one such event.

I was finishing my bachelor’s degree in night school. I chose “World Religions” as one of my elective classes. The class was taught by an ex-Catholic Priest. A term paper was required on one of the religions covered in the class. Father S. assigned the specific religion we were to research and write on by going up and down the rows of students as he went up and down the list of world religions. I found myself hoping and praying that I got a “reasonable” religion like Christianity or Judaism or even Islam.  I was really anxious and worried that I would get a “bizarre” religion, like Buddhism or worst of all (in my limited mind) -- Taoism which seemed the least rational and “concrete” …to my pretty limited and frankly ignorant state of mind. So, Father S. went up and down the rows, I actually found myself counting to be able to predict what I would be assigned and thus prepare myself for what was to come, but before I could figure it, Father S. got to me: “Mr. Tom: Your assignment is “Taoism”.  “Arrrrrrrrrgh.”, I moaned to myself . “No, no, no.”. But the verdict was in. Having no thought whatsoever that maybe this was no accident, I felt I was really stuck. Even though at this time I was “seeking” and “asking” and “knocking” for spiritual guidance and insight, it never dawned on me to some time later that maybe this was the term paper topic that by far, over all others, offered the greatest potential for spiritual growth and thus the greatest long-term benefit for the effort that I would expend producing it. Looking back now decades later, that assignment was precisely what I needed at that particular point in my evolution and I know in my heart it was no accident.

Therefore, from my experience I can confirm that when you ask you do receive, when you knock the door is opened, when you seek you will find. And, when I took a hard look at Jesus’ words in Matthew it was clear that Jesus made a solemn promise that it would be exactly so: "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.” But I’m sure many people would say, “Ok, I’m asking for $1,000”, or I’m asking that my cancer goes away and then they don’t get what they ask for? Does that mean Jesus’ promise is not real? Well, if all I care about is money, possessions, my body or earthly pleasures then I might come to that conclusion. But my experience has been that whenever I ask or seek with a pure heart for the purpose of growing in Christ, for learning how to love as Christ loves me than that request is ALWAYS granted. It may not be answered that very minute. I may have to repeat the request over and over again for several days or even weeks. I may have to work to stay alert to be on my toes, because the answer I need might be somewhat different than what I was expecting and it may come from an unexpected source, but it will come.

“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.”  Is nothing less than a divine promise, a holy, inviolate commitment from our Creator to you and me. It makes sense that this would be so. The Gospels say that wherever Jesus went he proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”. And theologians tell us that “repent” means to fundamentally and fully change our minds, not to just be sorry and regretful for something out of fear of punishment, but to fundamentally change our minds as when Jesus directed us to remove the beam from our own eye before we criticize others.

I learned that the path is individual, unique and personal. There never could be a standard “manual” to change everyone because everyone is different. Therefore, it is necessary for each of us to seek and knock and ask for guidance and Jesus promised that guidance to anyone who would ask. Jesus even revealed the “instrument” by which we would be individually helped: “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” I’ve always been struck with the power and certainty of those words. Jesus didn’t say the Spirit of Truth might guide us. Jesus promised that the Spirit of Truth will guide us. And not only that, but the Spirit of Truth will guide us, not in just some but in “ALL things”. However, the key is the Spirit of Truth will not violate my free-will. If my choice is to remain in ignorance, the Spirit of Truth must stay back, until I ask, until I seek, until I knock.