Day 10 - Dr. Jesus, I presume?

This is day 10 of our Thanksgiving experiment. On this day, November 10, 1871, following seven months of searching, foreign correspondent to the "New York Herald" Henry M. Stanley succeeded at last in locating Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Ujiji, Central Africa. Dr. Livingstone had disappeared 2 years earlier and was presumed to be dead. We all know those now famous first words uttered by Stanley, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?"

The next words spoken by Stanley and Livingston are not as familiar,"I thank God, Doctor, I have been permitted to see you." He answered, "I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you." Can you imagine going on a journey in search of someone that you have never seen before ... only heard of? Yet, there is something that compells you to search until you find it. How would you respond if at the end of your journey you found what you were looking for?

Sometimes we feel like we're on a journey through the deepest jungles of Africa, looking, longing to find God. Scripture tells us from Deuteronomy to Acts, if you seek God you will find him. Here are some verses on seeking and finding that I S.O.A.P.ed up on this morning:

• Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
  
  
• Proverbs 8:17 (NIV) I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
  
  
• Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
  
  
• Luke 11:9 (NIV) "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
  
  
• Acts 17:27 (NIV) God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

I am so thankful to God that when I went searching for the creator of life, the lover of my soul, the redeemer of mankind, I found him. Now Jesus and I travel together on this journey. I have the privilege of introducing him to others who have been seeking him. I also find that he goes before me and I find him in places I didn't expect ... in the faces of children, conversations over coffee with a friend, the cry for justice from the hurting and marginalized, and in the everyday mundane moments, I have found him ... Dr. Jesus, I presume?