“Seek My Face”
Hello everyone, I’m Wenyuan and I’ve recently graduated from university. My years in university was really a period where my faith was tested numerous times through seemingly impossible deadlines to meet, sleepless nights spent studying and the uncertainty of what the future holds. Yet through it all, the lessons of faith learnt along the way were an anchor for my soul that kept me steadfast through each storm as I sought to apply them in my university life.
My greatest test came when I was fast approaching my final year in university. That was the period of time everyone – peers, relatives and even my parents – seemed to relentlessly ask me questions like “What are your plans after university?” and “Have you started applying for jobs?”. And these questions almost naturally cause a sense of fear and even dread to face the uncertain future to arise within me. I knew the plans that I had for myself – I wanted to join the Ministry of Education to become a teacher. However, the fear of things not going the way I want them to was very real, and I often felt helpless that things of the future were not within my control.
While catching up with Pastor this one time, I confided in him about my struggles in this aspect of my life and sought his advice on how I could overcome them. And all he wrote back was,
“It’s tough!
Good to seek the Lord
Read Psalm 27 on your own
Analyse the text and tell me what you discover for yourself”
And so I did. After spending a couple of days meditating on the psalm, I realised that my circumstances somewhat mirrored that of the psalmist David’s. Psalm 27:7-8 stood out the most to me:
“Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
The context of Psalm 27 was David’s day of trouble, where his enemies were after his life. As much as David was confident in God’s protection, he was also conscious of the need for God’s mercy during this time, which led him to make this prayer in verse 7 and to plead for an answer from God. However, God’s reply in verse 8 was an exhortation for David to seek His face instead, reminding him that prayer is a time of communing with the Lord and not a mere means of obtaining answers from Him. As I read this, I was greatly rebuked. I realised that I was getting too caught up with my potential ‘days of trouble’ that my prayers were slowly gravitating toward desiring answers and blessings from God with regards to my future. Instead of seeking His face and dwelling on His presence through prayer, the focus of my prayers had become self-centred – what I desired and what I thought I needed. This was when I realised that I desperately needed a shift of perspective, and an even greater shift in my response.
So I sought to respond to this lesson appropriately, just as David did. While fully aware that circumstances may not change much – for David, his enemies were still out there; and for me, my future still remains uncertain, I would determine in my own heart to heed David’s call in verse 14:
“Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
I sought to make the conscious effort and choice to exercise trust and to wait upon the Lord, learning to seek His face instead of His answers through the daily reading of the Scriptures. Slowly but surely, His Word began to be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, guiding me to walk by faith and not by sight. While I went about making the necessary physical preparations for my future, I realised that I no longer worried about nor fretted over it. God had granted me this immense peace that both strengthened and comforted my heart! This is because I am convinced that while my future may be uncertain, I have a hope in a God that is tremendously certain – a God who watches over the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, a God who will watch over us too; we need only to seek His face!