O that I knew where I might find Him!
Job 23:3
"In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord.
The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father's face.
His first prayer is not "O that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!"---but the first and uppermost cry is, "O that I knew where I might find HIM, who is my God!" God's children run home when the storm comes on.
It is the heaven-born instinct
to seek shelter from all ills
beneath the wings of Jehovah.
Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth's hives, where we find no honey, but many sharp stings, .... In every trouble we should first seek to realize God's presence with us. Only let us enjoy His smile, and we can bear our daily cross with a willing heart for His dear sake."
Charles Spurgeon