To know God, seek his heart, not just answers

We have this amazing, awe-inspiring God who makes every effort to give us moments that take our breath away. He does it time and again in the way the sun sparkles through the tree leaves at twilight, the way someone truly smiles at us and in the way the sunrise is different every morning. The way he not only hung stars in the sky but went the extra mile and drew pictures with them.

While God is being himself, creating beautiful things for us to recognize him and his love in, so many times I'm busy not noticing. Instead of seeking his heart, I'm seeking answers from him. I want to know how something will turn out, why something happened, what choices I need to make to live his plans in my future.

The other night I was sitting on my porch seeking answers and asking God where he was at, because I certainly wasn't feeling him or his love. That's when Psalms 46:10 came to mind: "Be still, and know that I am God."

But what does that mean, Father?

"I AM God."

It took a couple more minutes for my senses to realize there was a world around me. A whole gigantic world calling to me, and a bigger God who made it all. Katydids. A gentle breeze. This awesome spider on the wall behind me spinning a web to catch food for the next day. All of it declared God was being who he is, holding all of it -- and me -- in his hands.

The name God introduced himself to Moses with is the same one he introduces himself to us with today. Every moment ge is reaching out to us, to simply say "I AM." He is the only one who exists by himself. Everything around us is crying this out, and he is whispering to us through this creation, "Be still and know that I AM God."

That is all we need to know for the moment. While he wants us to come to him seeking his will with all of our questions and "casting all our anxieties onto him because he cares for us" (1 Peter 5:7), he also wants us to seek his heart. To know him just for the sake of knowing him. To let the peace of knowing he is God and we are not wash over our hearts. To turn our faith in who he is into the answers to the questions we let him hold, patiently awaiting him to reveal the answers in his time (he will!). To enjoy being with him. To know that he is God, and to let him show us that is more than enough.

Mia Pohlman is a Perryville, Mo., native studying at Truman State University. She loves performing, God and the color purple -- not necessarily in that order.