With My Little Eyes

There is a common children's game called "I Spy," and the wording goes, "I spy, with my little eye, something ______." But God is not concerned with what we see, rather God looks as the the heart, the soul, and the belief.

Heart
1 Samuel 16:1-17:58

"When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab, and he thought, 'Surely the Lord has appointed this person standing here before him.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Don't look at how handsome Eliab is or how tall he is, because I have not chosen him. God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

I love this scripture so much... it is one that I try to read every morning and pray that God guide my heart and mold my heart into what may be pleasing to Him. Eliab must've been the "It" guy at school, so to speak. Strong, tall, handsome- he was the clear choice for any popularity contest. But God's decisions don't exactly work like a popularity contest.

As we remembered this morning in the Graduate Christian Fellowship Planning meeting, God's strength is made perfect through our weaknesses. And I am weak. I can do nothing without you, Lord. I am so thankful for GCF this year, at a moment when I felt so deeply lonely that I didn't know if I'd make it through grad school. And Lord I just pray that you would use me to do Your work this next semester, even though I certainly wouldn't win the popularity contest. Just like David, I'm the young one in the group, but I pray that You guide me and teach me and work through me Lord... I want to be Your vessel.

Soul
Psalm 59:1-5

"...Wake up to help me, and look. You are the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel." (Psalm 59;5)

God doesn't look at our appearance, but He does look to us. He looks deep into our souls into what we feel, what we love, what we need. It reminds me of the song we just sang at church:

oh ven, ven y deleitate en el Senor (come, come and delight yourself in the Lord.)
y el te concedara las peticiones de tu corazon. (and he will give you all the petitions of your heart)

A familiar verse, but somehow it just hit me this evening, and I'm remembering once again the beauty of praying to my Lord with delight as I ask for what I need. And the Lord hears our prayers. He looks upon our situations and loves us. Thank You, God, for looking deeper into me than anyone.

Belief
Luke 24:36-53

"They were fearful and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said, 'Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have a living body as you see I have." (Luke 24:37-39)

Seeing is not believing. I think about those magic shows and card tricks which we can't quite figure out. Somehow it all looks just right, but we don't actually believe the rabbit appeared out of thin air or that the woman was actually sawed in half and put back together. And seeing Jesus didn't convince the disciples. It's sometimes hard to believe in anything... and people do struggle with their faith. That's why I am always comforted that we need 'faith the size of a mustard seed' and that we may pray, 'Lord, help us in our unbelief.' If the disciples doubted what they saw, many people are bound to doubt what they can't see. I guess I feel challenged to make the unseen seen for people- to share with people through my words and my thoughts and my life and my actions that He lives! He's right here... although You can't see him, You can believe. It's not what you see with your little eyes but what you belief with your little heart. Help me to share my belief with others, Lord.