The Secret of Inviting His Gaze

The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righ- teousness; His countenance beholds the upright (Psalm 11:4-7).

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od scrutinizes mankind with focused intensity. He cares intensely for us and about us. He studies our responses and weighs our attitudes. He is vitally concerned over

our welfare and is committed to judging us justly for every word and deed.

We can do nothing to avoid His gaze; however, it is possible to invite Him to an even greater attentiveness of our lives. Why would we want to do such a thing? Simply because His gaze is reflective of His favor. When, in the above passage, it says, “His countenance beholds the upright,” you can replace the word “countenance” with “favor” (see Psalm 44:3). He looks with fa- vor upon the upright. To put it another way, if He likes you, He looks at you.

Secrets of the Secret Place

The Lord has said to us, “‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Isaiah 66:2). When I read those words my heart moves within me, “That’s me, Lord, I’m poor and contrite, and I tremble at Your word. Oh, that You would look upon me in this way!”

God is on a holy search. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is looking for the perfect and loyal heart, and when He finds it, His eyes cease their searching, and they bore down with great fascination and excitement upon the one who loves Him so de- voutly. Those who come under such intense scrutiny gain great favor from the Lord. He releases abundant portions of mercy, faith, grace, compassion, revelation, wisdom, might, and deliverance to those whose heart is loyal to Him.

Wise believers—those who have come to value the true treasures of the kingdom—will pant for this kind of attention. They’ll stand and wave and cry, “Here, Lord, I’m over here! Come, Lord, and set Your gaze upon me!” Reclusing to the secret place is like painting a huge bull’s eye on yourself. You’re making a statement to heaven, “Lord, here I am. Have mercy upon me, and visit me. Lift up the light of Your countenance and look upon me, O Lord!”

Now here’s the tricky part: with His favor comes His fire. When He looks upon you for good, it is with eyes ablaze. His fiery eyes can’t but test you. God’s fire is heartwarming and impassioning, but it’s also calculatedly volatile and dangerously consuming. When God’s fire explodes in your life, you can rest assured He is beholding you very closely. He is squinting at you, searching you with His eyelids, testing your every response. He is testing you to see if your heart will remain loyal to Him through the scrutiny. If you persevere, He designs to show Himself strong on your behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9).

The saint who is walking this thing out with God can appear rather ambivalent. At first he is crying out, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties” (Psalm 139:23). But then God’s fire hits—whooooooossh! Quickly the saint

The Secret of Inviting His Gaze

changes his tune, and his prayer sounds more like that of Job:

“What is man, that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart on him, that You should visit him every morning, and test him every moment? How long? Will You not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva? Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?” (Job 7:17-20).

We desire His gaze, but then when we get it, we don’t want it anymore! “Will You not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?” The Lord is patient with us, however, and He gives us time to process and adjust. Over time, the saint slowly begins to realize that the alternative is far worse.

Oh, the horror of God turning His eyes away from us! It was an awful declaration of judgment when God said, “‘I will hide My face from them’” (Deuteronomy 32:20). Lord, we cannot even begin to imagine such darkness! No, Lord, do not turn away from us! Even though it means the fire of Your eyes, look upon us for good. Our hearts are returning to our first prayer which we really meant all along. Look on us, visit us, come to us, O consuming fire!

I have had such sweet meditation in considering the intense concentration of God’s attention upon our lives. He is more fo- cused on me, even though I am one among billions, than I could ever be capable of reciprocating. When my mind wanders from a conscious focus upon the Lord, and I am distracted by the affairs of everyday life, upon returning to Christ in my thoughts comes this awesome realization: He was there all along, waiting for my thoughts to return to Him! He is never disconnected or distracted away from me, not even for a split second. The moment my mind turns to Him, His Spirit immediately connects with my spirit and our fellowship continues, unbroken. I am in awe of this truth: He never stops thinking about me! His thoughts are more than the sands of the seashore (Psalm 139:18), and He knows that every one of them is for a peaceful and hopeful future (Jeremiah 29:11). Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

Secrets of the Secret Place

“‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up’” (Jeremiah 24:6).

What can I say to such kindness, Lord? Here is my simple prayer: “Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name” (Psalm 119:132).

There is a place of rich affection where, in the quiet of our garden, we invoke the gaze of our Beloved. (The secret of this chapter is tucked away right here.) We have knowledge, we un- derstand what we’re saying, but we say it anyways. “Fix Your eyes on me, altogether Lovely One!” Such a resolute heart gains His extravagant response, “‘You have ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse; you have ravished My heart with one look of your eyes’” (Song of Solomon 4:9). Eyes locked, hearts burning…this is the secret place.

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-23