Seeking God’s Heart is the re-release of Seeking Daily The Heart of God but because so much of the wisdom in that 365-day devotional is timeless, Boyd Bailey achieves every writer’s goal of not coming across as stale and timeworn.
Even the foreword challenges the reader not to see it through the lens of “Oh no, not another devotional,” and given the wide variety of subjects that it explores, it’s hard to imagine readers who will see it that way. Good devotionals often are narrowly focused on a target audience — teens, men or women, for example — but this one has the advantage of being personal to the reader while maintaining a universal appeal that can touch and teach anyone.
That’s a wise approach, and what else would you expect from somebody whose strength as a teacher is wisdom? Bailey, as many are aware, is the author of Wisdom Hunters devotionals, and is the founder of Wisdom Hunters, Inc., an Atlanta-based ministry that encourages Christians to apply God’s unchanging Truth in a changing world.
The entries are compact, yet just meaty enough to entice readers to dig more deeply into God’s Word for themselves. It’s relatable, so the reader who is struggling likely will be comforted to glean from a writer who’s humble enough to admit he’s “a fellow struggler seeking to know and understand his Creator.”
One of the entries that touched me personally was what Bailey wrote for Nov. 19, headlined “Heavenly Heroes.” In the aftermath of my grandmother’s death at the “old and full of years” age of 97, Bailey’s words were a balm to me:
“Your heavenly hero may be a godly grandparent who walked faithfully with the Lord and is now peering down from heaven’s portal. You watched your grandmother and/or grandfather persevere through adverse conditions. They kept a relationship with God that flourished and grew, up to the very end of their life on earth. Money was not an issue for them because they learned to be content with a home, food, and clothing. Relationships are what mattered the most to them. They always seemed to have time for you. Phone conversations did not seem rushed and their door was always open. In their presence there was a serenity and stability that had heaven as its origin. You experienced a little bit of heaven each time they graced your presence.
“Now is the time to allow the death of your heaven-bound hero to have even more impact on your life. Let their going home galvanize your faith.”
It will and it has. Maybe it’ll seem like Bailey knew your grandma too. Or your mother, father, wife, husband, son or daughter. But the Scriptures, applications and takeaways you will glean from Seeking God’s Heart are bound to make a helpful impact if you use them as an aid to start your day. A devotional writer can only hope for that much. I’m pretty sure that’s what God put them here for. He’ll take care of the rest.
