IT WAS JUST A SNIPPET
You know how it is when you hear something and it pulls together the threads you didn’t even know were hanging all loose like? That’s what happened this past week. Several times, in fact, someone spoke a truth that resonated on a whole new level. It was just a snippet, but wading into the deep is sort of like that, I suppose. You meander here and there seeking and then, in one fell swoop, words wash over and you didn’t even realize how much they were needed.
What were the words? There were seven of them. “It is He who looks upon us.”
The one speaking through the airwaves was talking about going before the Lord in prayer. “How many times have I sought the Lord” and, according to Psalm 34:1, “He answers.” In Deuteronomy, it says He goes before us and if He does, it stands to reason He is already there, looking at us, the one He created. Perhaps nothing new under the sun, but picture yourself in prayer with head bowed while it is He looking upon you. We look to the cross. We “look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2). We look to His Word. And in the midst of it all, “It is He who looks upon us.”
Remember hiding? Remember hiding as you hoped against hope that nobody saw, or nobody found out the choices made or the words said? Whatever it was, we merely need fill in the blank and so it goes with each of us. Yet, “It is He who looks upon us.” He sees. He saw. He calls. He heals. He thirsts. He restores and loves us back with tremendous grace and mercy of a Father who not only lives love, but is Love.
Remember on the cross when Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28). This means that He is constantly thirsting for souls to know of His love poured out— pouring out.
Nothing worse than someone rejecting a gift given. No doubt we all remember a time or two when what was given wasn’t good enough in the eyes of another. Perhaps it was tossed out or spat upon as something that mattered not. When what was given was murmured about and motives misconstrued— well then—our man on the cross understands. For two thousand years and counting the rejection continues as He looks on—all-the-while thirsting for us to receive the love He wishes to lavish upon us.
Receiving His gift given to us on the cross, allows our soul to heal. Confession draws allowing us to release our burdens to the One who is thirsting for us to trust Him with them.
As we gaze upon Him— whether it be upon the cross, upon the waters, upon the fields, or if we pause in the dark seeking His face, may we remember that it is He who is already looking at us.
See the warmth of your Father calling you to rest and to be assured of His presence. Isaiah 43:1 sums it up. “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you…and He who formed you…, ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” Amen.
