Scripture: Psalm 27:7-14
Journal: What does God’s face look like to you? What is the look in his eyes for you?
Reflection: Several years ago I was leading a retreat for some
college folks who were deeply involved in a ministry of which I was a
part. The design and intent of the
retreat was to create some space and some solitude in order for these dear
folks to hear from God and to be renewed, refreshed, restored, or whatever they
might need most from him at that point in their journey.
Not too far into our time together I could
tell that one student in particular was really struggling. And since we were in silence, instead of
trying to interfere or intervene in whatever God was doing deep within her
heart and soul, all I could really do was watch and pray. Near the end of our time together, as we
broke the silence with communion and some reflection, she was able to tell the
group exactly what the nature of the struggle had been.
Seeking his face had been the theme
of our time of solitude; and it seems it had been something much more elusive
than she had anticipated it would be.
Try as she might, she was simply having no success focusing her gaze on
the face of God. That was until late in
the retreat when, in her frustration, she cried out to him in her helplessness
and he showed up. “He simply said to
me, ‘Look at my eyes. See what great
love and affection my eyes hold for you.’
And once I focused on his eyes, everything changed.” Maybe we would be wise to do the same.
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Let me see your face, O God, that I might know
the look of love with which you look at me, and give that same look to whoever
you bring across my path each day. In
the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
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