What Are We Seeking?

Daily Office Reflections
Thursday, August 20, 2026

Readings: Psalms 131–135; Job 1:1–22; Acts 8:26–40; John 6:27–40

What are we seeking?

That seems to be the question running through today’s Daily Office readings.

All of us are seeking something.

We seek security.

We seek enough money to meet our needs.

We seek relationships and companionship.

We seek a place where we belong.

We seek understanding.

We seek something that will assure us that tomorrow is going to be all right.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with any of those things.

But Jesus asks us to look deeper.

What are we really seeking?

And perhaps an even more important question is:

In whom do we trust?

The Crowd Was Seeking Jesus

Yesterday Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.

The crowd was so impressed that they wanted to make him king.

Jesus withdrew, and he and his disciples crossed to the other side of the lake.

But the crowd followed.

They found ways to catch up with Jesus.

Think about that for a moment.

They were seeking Jesus.

That sounds like a good thing.

But Jesus knew there was something else underneath their search.

They had eaten.

They had been satisfied.

Now they wanted more.

Jesus told them:

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.”

In essence, Jesus was asking:

What are you seeking?

You wanted to make me king.

You want me to feed you again.

But are you seeking me—or are you seeking what you think I can give you?

There is a difference.

The crowd wanted bread.

Jesus wanted to give them life.

What Did Job Have Left?

Then we meet Job.

Job had almost everything his world considered valuable.

He had wealth.

He had livestock.

He had servants.

He had children and family.

He was a very rich man.

Then, in a single terrible day, almost everything was taken from him.

His possessions disappeared.

His servants were killed.

Worst of all, his children died.

Job did not understand why.

He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

He didn’t even understand what had happened today.

Yet Job worshiped.

He said:

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job’s possessions were important.

His children were precious to him.

But neither his wealth nor his possessions were the foundation of his relationship with God.

When everything else disappeared, Job still turned toward God.

That is what challenges me about Job.

His relationship with God was more important than what he possessed.

Job didn’t know what tomorrow held.

But he knew in whom he trusted.

The Ethiopian Was Seeking Understanding

Then Acts introduces us to another seeker.

An Ethiopian official, the treasurer of the queen, had traveled to Jerusalem to worship.

Now he was on his way home.

As he traveled, he was reading from the prophet Isaiah.

There was only one problem.

He didn’t understand what he was reading.

God sent Philip to meet him on the road.

Philip heard him reading Isaiah and asked:

“Do you understand what you are reading?”

The Ethiopian answered honestly:

“How can I, unless someone guides me?”

I love that response.

He didn’t pretend to understand.

He didn’t decide that he already knew everything.

He was seeking.

He was willing to learn.

He was willing to ask questions.

Philip climbed into the chariot with him and began explaining the Scripture. Starting with Isaiah, Philip told him the good news about Jesus.

Then they came to some water.

The Ethiopian saw it and wanted to be baptized.

He had been seeking.

He had been asking.

He had been learning.

And when understanding came, he responded.

That sounds like a pilgrim to me.

A Quiet Soul

Then I hear Psalm 131.

The Psalmist describes his soul as quiet and peaceful, like a child resting with its mother.

What a beautiful picture.

The Psalmist does not claim to understand everything.

He does not claim to know what tomorrow will bring.

He simply trusts.

And then he says:

“O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth for evermore.”

Perhaps that is why the person who trusts God does not have to spend today consumed with worry about tomorrow.

Not because we know what tomorrow will bring.

We don’t.

Job certainly didn’t.

Not because nothing difficult will happen.

Job teaches us otherwise.

And not because we understand everything.

The Ethiopian treasurer certainly didn’t.

We can rest because we know in whom we trust.

God is our Creator.

God is our Redeemer.

God is our Sustainer.

What Are We Really Seeking?

Now I see the contrast more clearly.

The crowd sought Jesus because they wanted another meal and a king.

Job lost almost everything he possessed, but he still turned toward God.

The Ethiopian treasurer sought God and sought understanding. When he didn’t understand, he was humble enough to admit it and willing to learn.

And the Psalmist rests quietly because his hope is in the Lord.

So Jesus tells us:

Don’t spend all your energy seeking what perishes.

Seek what lasts.

Seek life.

Seek God.

Eternal life is not something we purchase.

It is not something we accumulate.

It is not something we control.

It is God’s gift.

As Ephesians 2:8–9 reminds us, we are saved by grace through faith.

Grace is God’s gift.

Faith receives.

And God invites us to choose life.

A Question for the Journey

So today’s question is simple:

What am I seeking?

Am I seeking enough possessions to guarantee tomorrow?

Am I seeking enough money to make myself completely secure?

Am I seeking someone who can promise that nothing difficult will happen?

Am I seeking answers to every question before I am willing to trust?

Or am I seeking God?

The crowd reminds me that I can even seek Jesus for the wrong reasons.

Job reminds me that possessions can disappear, but my relationship with God remains.

The Ethiopian treasurer reminds me that there is nothing wrong with saying:

“I don’t understand. Help me understand.”

And the Psalmist reminds me that a soul can rest when its hope is in God.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds.

Neither do you.

But we can know in whom we trust.

God is our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer.

That is why I don’t have to spend today worrying about tomorrow.

Today I will seek God.

Today I will trust.

Today I will learn.

Today I will choose life.

Tomorrow will come when tomorrow comes.

And when it does, the same God will already be there.

What are we seeking?

May we seek the One who gives us life.

And the journey continues.

The Curious Pilgrim — Reflections on faith, family, and mysterious grace.