“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

I remembered the last place I had my sunglasses. It had been a week ago in the car just as the sun was setting. I didn’t need my sunglasses anymore, so I took them off and laid them in my lap. Beyond that, I had no clue what I had done with them. I did a brief search of the house last Monday morning before leaving for work, but nothing turned up. Each day I searched in the usual places, and each time, I was left with no choice but to endure the glare of the August sun and the late summer haze.

I described my woes to Sweet Husband, how I had been out of kilter all week long due to missing my sunglasses. Before leaving for church on Sunday morning, I said, “Come on, let’s go to the store. I can’t make it any longer like this,” so we made ready to leave.

But he hadn’t searched the car yet. I thought I had done a fairly thorough job, having checked the trunk after remembering that we had unloaded the back of the car the week before after a trip to town. I had also looked in all the compartments, in my purse, and in the cracks of the seats multiple times during the week.

But a fresh set of eyes can make all the difference. “What have we here?” he asked, reaching under the passenger’s seat and retrieving, to my great delight, my long-lost sunglasses. For the first time in a week, I was grateful to have some shade and comfort.

My search had been rushed and frustrated, not thorough and methodical. Otherwise, what was lost would have been found much earlier in the week. It reminds me of my approach to other things in life: work projects, cleaning house, even reading books. I often stop and start, piddling with this and that, keeping multiple irons in the fire. Somehow, I always find a way to pull things together, but I am often left frayed and worn out by my multitasking approach.

My devotion time works the same way. A five-minute morning dash through a lesson in my Bible study means I can check it off my to-do list, but have I really sought the Lord with all that I have? Have I taken the kind of time it takes to deepen my relationship with my Savior? I know the difference between a half-hearted effort and giving it my all, and I can feel the results ripple through the rest of my day. Maybe you do, too.

This week, may we all have a renewed commitment to seek the Lord with our whole heart. May we keep our minds focused on His commandments and give Him the honor due His name. His promises are true, and we will, indeed, find Him when we seek Him.

Prayer: Father, may we always seek You first. Help us to prioritize our relationship with You.