A Different View

God sees so much differently than I do.  I look at my days and see little if any progress in the deeper areas of my walk with Him.  One of my greatest desires is to become aware of His presence in all things.  Somehow it usually gets lost in the shuffles of the day.  My focus becomes more earthly as I move away from my "God time" in the morning.  I'm sure I am not alone in this, so I'm sure I am not alone in needing a little pick me up from the Lord to remind me we're on the right track, and He is looking at us, not with a disappointed frown, but a loving smile.

"Jesus Calling", November 1.  "Don't be discouraged by the difficulty of keeping your focus on Me, I know that your heart's desire is to be aware of My Presence continually.....I am delighted by your deep desire to walk closely with Me through your life."

God is so good.  He tells us in Zechariah 4:10  Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand,  For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world."

Jesus rejoices in our smallest of beginnings.  A spark in our hearts He can turn into a warm, glowing flame.  Our tiniest of desires to please Him into an all consuming passion for His Presence and will in our lives.  God sees our desire, looking at them aligning with His and He works with it.

I can remember many years ago, as I worshiped in church one Sunday, being so frustrated in the fact that I couldn't keep my mind on the Lord during this time.  Ugh!!  I thought to myself.  But the Lord gave me a picture in my head of a young child handing their parents a drawing.  The parents don't look at it and critique  the fact that the child made the people purple and the sky green.  They don't point out that there is crayon outside the lines or that you can't tell what the picture is actually supposed to be.  No, they look at it and exclaim their delight.  They see it for what it is, a gift of love from their child. And they adore it, displaying it proudly on the refrigerator or a wall.    And this is how God sees our smallest of efforts, our "tries and fails" are so much more important than our "never try at alls".  The love behind the effort, the desire to please is what He is looking at.

Last night, again, I felt the Lord saying to me, "Celebrate the victories, the moments of success." And I do!!  I love that I remember to seek Him, to open myself up to His nearness a few more times today than I did yesterday.   The Lord is celebrating too!!

Zephaniah 3:17  For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you.  He is a mighty savior.  He will rejoice over you with great gladness.  With His love, He will calm all your fears.  He will exult over you by singing a happy song.

Lord, thank You that You see so much differently than I do.  And thank You for reminding me of that truth.