Gaze

This morning I saw a little glimpse of heaven. I stood back like you do when you’re looking for that hidden image in those weird posters that no one has actually ever bought but we’ve all stared at awkwardly at some point in our lives.   You relax your eyes, and let them gaze freely until you see an image that you could not of seen without stopping for that moment.  Well, I did that this morning while watching my boys on the playground before school. I looked around and saw the beauty of children laughing and playing and running around innocently.  And for that moment, there were no tears, no pain, no fear, just pure joy.  It was beautiful. It made me long for that day I’ll be like them again, running free with my Maker, with no more pain, no more tears. Sure, I could have looked closer and heard mean words, or grieved over the home life of some of these children, but I chose to capture that moment for the beauty God was showing me. 

I think God always gives us the option of seeing things through the lens of hope or disparity.  He provides the opportunity for hope in those moments of clarity where we are not distracted by what isn’t, but focused on what is, if we fix our gaze on Him.  Psalm 27:13 says “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  Not only when we are face to face someday, but here and now, on this earth in this time. The next verse reinforces that with encouragement of what to do while we wait to see the goodness of the Lord, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart; wait I say on the Lord!”  Notice it does not say wait on the Lord to change your situation, to change the people in your life, or to make everything good.  It does say he will strengthen your heart and give you courage, so that you can endure and persevere.

How do we do that when life is so big, and so real, and pain is tangible? Moment by moment, look for his grace, his rest, his beauty.  It’s there.  In Psalm 13, David is despairing and wondering where the Lord has gone. He cries out the whole Psalm until one pivotal moment, he uses the word “BUT” and changes his gaze from the problem, to the Lord, instantly he is relieved and his hope is restored. Eyes off the problem and onto the Lord. Do I believe in magical formulas to give us a better life today? Maybe just this one. Eyes off problem onto the Lord.

Revelation 21:4

4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”