seek his face always." ~1 Chronicles 16:11
A few weeks ago, I accompanied my husband to Chinatown in Los Angeles. He was sent there to survey a piece of property that was nearly straight up and down on a side of a hill. It had a beautiful view but the topography of the lot would be a bit of a challenge to map out. Luckily, technology has provided a tool that makes the surveyors job easier. The way it works (remember I am a a non-surveyor, non-techie person) a base station is set up on what is called a control point. Then, the surveyor carries a rod with a prism that reflects a beam of light back to the base as he stands on various points on the property. The information is stored and a model can be generated from the data received. This all works well until something comes between the base station and the prism. Things like a trees or fence posts that block the surveyor's view of the base can break the connection and information cannot be received. There must be a 'line of sight' to be successful.
Watching the whole process made me think of some I just read in Beth Moore's study Stepping Up; A Journey through the Psalms of Ascent. Beth spoke of how keeping our eyes focused on God is so utterly important to our well-being. She says that she would "like to suggest that an entire chain reaction begins with our eyes and ultimately affects our hearts, souls and minds. Where we look--where we genuinely fasten our gaze amid the continual life challenges has a tremendous on how we feel". She goes on to say that the reason "she is convinced that where we look has such an impact is because where we look is also primarily where we listen". If our gaze is on God then we will hear from him and when we hear from him it affects the way we feel. But there is another added bonus--When we focus on God and hear from him, we also can know what to expect from him through the knowledge we have gained about who he is and how he operates. We will not have to ask ourselves I wonder how God feels about this. The more we focus and the more we hear, the more we hear the more we will anticipate God's ways and the more easily we can follow the Lord.
This all works well right up until something stands in the way of pursuing regular Bible reading and prayer. Many times a busy schedule can take priority in our every day life leaving us with the feeling there is little time to seek the Lord on a regular basis. Just as a tree or fence post interrupts the signal between the base and the prism when doing a survey, life's issues loom in the forefront of our daily living blocking out our vision of God. Before we realize it, the connection is lost and we find ourselves out of communication with Him. It's a bad position to be in but the solution to this dilemma is easy. We must reestablish that 'line of sight' with the Lord. Seek his face. Make prayer and Bible reading a must in order to navigate through this life successfully. First Chronicles 12:14 says to "seek his face always". Always, continually, daily. It's a constant action that provides a strong connection. And with this strong connection, God can pass along His wisdom to deal with the details of life providing me with His strength and peace. Psalms 34:10 states, "those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." That being said I'm planning on keeping my eyes on him.
The LORD is a friend to those who fear [in awe of] him. He teaches them his covenant. My eyes are always on the LORD, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies. ~Psalms 25:14-15 NLT
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