Mark's Midweek Musings & Updates

"What God sees ..."
 

When we look at the world around us ... what do we see? Where is our attention drawn? How do we feel about ourselves and others who are around us, especially those who may differ from us? Where do we find joy and delight? Do we find joy and delight? Do we see ourselves, all of creation and the world around us the way God sees us, creation and the world?

I think that often when we look at the world around us, the media does a good job of drawing our attention to all that is wrong in the world ... hatred, violence, war, terrorism, poverty, discrimination, crime. And there is no doubt that these are realities that confront us far too much in day to day living. And to be sure, when we feel the stress and anguish of this reality, God feels it too; God's heart is heavy; God feels the burden of all that is unhealthy and dysfunctional in the world we live in today.

But, I think God also looks at the world and identifies joy and takes delight in some of what He sees as well ... the birth of a baby, flowers that are blooming, birds that are chirping, one person helping another person, children who are friends even though they come from different parts of the world, young people who boldly raise awareness of social issues of injustice, someone knits a prayer shawl for another, communities come together to address injustices and wrongs in their own neighborhood, coworkers who rally around a colleague who is being mistreated in the work place, students who stand with another who is being bullied. 

As much as there is bad news in the world today ... there are good news stories too. It's unfortunate that we often don't hear nearly as much about them. But God sees them and God does experience joy at all the good that is done too. I wonder what we might see if we looked at the world the same way God does ... I suspect we might see things that bring hope and joy with us too.

I wonder too how we often see ourselves. We're human beings who struggle through life with what I call the human condition. That leads us to do or say things that often hurt others, even if that's not our intent. We are broken people who are fragile in so many ways. And we know all too well we are sinners who don't live up to the faithfulness God desires of us as His children and as followers of Jesus Christ. All of that together often leads us to feel so unworthy and diminishes our view of ourselves and what we deserve in life.

But, what does God see in us as He looks at us ... He sees us as His creation, his beloved children, flawed, but worth saving, sinful but worthy of redemption, broken but in need of healing and wholeness. God looks at us and sees the beauty in us and wants us to see that in ourselves too.

When we look in the mirror, and think of ourselves in a way that puts ourselves down, we need to ask ourselves, but how does God see us? We know through the testimony of scripture, and the witness of Jesus, that God see us as 100% lovable in a way that can never be compromised. Our prayer needs to be ... God help me to see myself as you see me and to value myself as you value me. That will lead us to health and well being and enable us to become the potential of who God created us to be and who God desires us to be. And that too will bring God joy!!