In His Eyes

Several years ago, Peter Gabriel released a song called “In Your Eyes.”  It was really an awesome song.  You may associate it with John Cusack’s character holding a boom-box above his head in the movie “Say Anything.”  A few years back, Nichole Nordeman covered the song.  Once again, really awesome song.  I have never been a big fan of secular songs being “Christianized.”  This is one of the few exceptions for me.  Probably because I just like the song.

The fact that God sees all there is to see about us is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, He sees through all of our shortcomings and failures.  He looks past our insecurities and our anxieties.  He sees through who we are to who we can be.  This should really encourage us.  We don’t have to put on a show for God.  We don’t have to impress Him.  He loves and accepts us as we are.  Of course, He is always challenging us to be better, but God does love us as we are.  We can be encouraged by how we are in His eyes.

There is another side to the way God looks at us.  Just as He sees through all of our shortcomings, He also sees through all of our pretenses.  While we don’t have to impress Him, He is not impressed with our externals anyway.  If we are not careful, it’s easy to find ourselves playing “dress-up” Christianity.  We find ourselves just putting on a show for whoever will buy it.  God, however is not caught up in our performances.  The Bible says, “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, NLT).

When we stop and think for just a moment, we really need to remind ourselves who we are really living for and why.  Everything today is so image oriented.  We elect the politicians with best image.  Our entertainment decisions are based on advertising and appearances.  It’s easy for us to fall into the trap of trying to impress one another rather than being genuine and trying to impress the One who really matters.

As a pastor, I see this all the time.  I see professing Christians who turn their ”Christianity” on and off depending on who they are around.  They always are playing up how spiritual they are.  In reality, they probably aren’t what they are pretending to be.  I have developed the following rule of thumb:  the more someone tells you how spiritual they are, the less spiritual they tend to be.  Now, I want to be cautious here.  I’m not trying to drift into the dangerous waters of being judgmental.  I just think we would all do well to remember that God sees everything.  He knows our hearts and our minds.  He sees the stuff no one else does.  He is keenly aware of the real us.  Wouldn’t we be better off spending less energy pretending and more energy living?  Again, it’s really about how we appear in His eyes.

Getting into Spiritual Shape – Praying for Others

All of us know people with real needs in their lives.  We know people who are sick.  We know people who are having marital problems or struggles with their kids.  We have a friend who has lost a job or a sister who is struggling to make ends meet.  We all know a young person who is trying to find their way or a senior adult who is trying to be found by anyone.

The real question for us is how can we touch the lives of these people everyday.  Most of us aren’t doctors.  We can’t heal the sick.  We aren’t marriage counselors or child therapists.  We don’t have deep pockets with unlimited resources.  How then can we help and make a difference?

One of the best things we can do for people is to pray for them.  The Bible says, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them” (1 Timothy 2:1, NLT).  It’s important for us to take the time and focus on others in our prayer lives.  We can become so self-absorbed in everything we do, including our prayers.  We tend to focus on our needs, our wants, our concerns.  It’s good for us to stop and lift up others.  Men like Moses, Jeremiah, and Paul prayed for others.  Jesus modeled intercession in His prayer life.  He was constantly praying for His disciples.  You and I need to follow their examples.

We can pray for our neighbors, our friends, and our co-workers.  We can pray for friends of friends.  We can pray for the needs and concerns of people we don’t know.  More than once I have been in a hospital and promised to pray for people that I will probably never meet again.  Just a note along those lines, if you tell someone you are going to pray for them, be sure to pray for them.

It makes no difference who the person is or what their relationship is to us.  We can ask God to work in their lives and in their circumstances.  All we need to do is stop and take a few minutes to share their needs with God.  God works through our prayers.  He works in their lives and He works in ours.  Let’s take some time out of our prayer-time to lift up others.  It’s one of the best things we can do for them.  It’s also one of the best things we can do to grow.