Sometimes we seek God’s hands, to see what He is doing, that we may do likewise.
Sometimes we lean on Him, not on our own understanding, submitting our ways to Him, that He might make them straight.
Sometimes we seek His heart, that our heart may beat in time with His.
All these are good – but there is more. We can also seek His face.
To seek Gods face takes a journey of intimacy to the next level. You can do all the other things while looking down, without fully connecting. But in seeking His face you expose yours. And that is not always a comfortable place in which to be.
To actively look into the eyes of the One who loves you, to see Him, how easy is it? To risk a glance, and then away in case you see disapproval, in case he sees the face hidden under your mask. In case he sees the shame, the doubt, the guilt.
As if you can ever hide from Him.
But, if you are looking away, or down, you can at least pretend. But if you really start seeking His face, looking up, well that is painful. Really raw. He sees you, really sees you. And you see Him, in the fullness of who He is, and somehow, by some cross-drenched miracle, you are not destroyed. But it does not remove the pain of intimacy, of being fully exposed, and seeing Him. We are still so often infected by the impulse to hide. Our flesh is of the stock of Adam and Eve, and that flesh is seared by His gaze.
But, and here is the truth, our new spirit comes fully alive under that same gaze. The joy of knowing Him for whom we were created. The source and very basis of our being. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. The burning love for those once lost, now found, that can only ever be fully understood when, at long last, we begin to see His face.
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
Psalm 105 v 1-4
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
The Age To Come 