The God Who Sees Good morning! 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that something is going on…it’s going on right now. It was actually going on yesterday too. In fact it will be happening tomorrow as well. Indeed it happens constantly and without respite…God sees! He searches the earth and he is looking for those whose hearts are committed to him! Today we are going to take a better look at God as a God who not only creates and commands and redeems, but as The God who sees.

Genesis 16:11-13 God sees those in despair. He also sees those in moments of joy. Because, he sees EVERYTHING (Hebrews 4:13) Our God is not blind. He is not uninterested. He is not unable. Our is all seeing. He is incredibly patient. He is amazingly committed to the plan of reconciliation thru Christ. So what does God see?

What Does God See… When he sees me? When he sees us?

Psalm 103 John 3:16 Romans 5:5-8 It’s in the nature of most us to start most any process with how it is going to apply to or affect us personally. So when we think about The God Who Sees, we naturally begin with what he sees in us personally. The Bible is pretty encouraging on this: God loves me from east to west…he forgives me! He loves me enough to give his one and only son for me…so I’m pretty special! Even when I was at my worst, God loved me soooo much he didn’t give up on me, but gave himself for me! We love this stuff!!!

Footprints in the Sand—Carolyn Joyce Carty There is a legendary poem that speaks to the heart of God’s devotion to us in a brilliant way. It’s called “Footprints in the Sand” by Carolyn Joyce Carty… One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed 2 sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that I happened at the very lowest and saddest times in this life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it: “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in mu life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most, you would leave me.” The LORD replied: “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” WE LOVE THIS STUFF! As we should, because it is all totally true. It’s just that we seem to have a much harder time remembering and practicing the conviction that while we are special to Almighty God…so are the others who inhabit this one small planet, past, present and future. Footprints in the Sand—Carolyn Joyce Carty

Mark 6:30-37 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” If we look through the experience of Christ we learn how God sees people. A great test of our spiritual maturity is found—not in how much Bible we know or how much we pray, but in how we see people. What changes about you and your perspective when you start to see people like “the God who sees”? How does God see your spouse? (Acceptable, forgivable…) How do you see our spouse? (Burden, a challenge) How does God see your co-workers or neighbors? (His treasure, his harassed and helpless children without a shepherd) How do you them? (competitors, irritants?) How about the stranger at the store or at your children’s school event? (Someone to engage and to draw near) How do you see them (someone to avoid or an obstacle to cross while on my way?) When “God with us” sees them he has compassion. Does your perspective need to change from an earthbound one to a Godly one in the way you view others? Less me…more us!

A Demonstration Why do we like presents? (for the very most part we associate positive experiences with opening them). When you think about it. This is no more than a conditioned response…like Pavlov’s dog. If our common experience is a punch in the eye whenever one of these boxes shows up, we’d wince at their appearance. But, indeed just the sight of one these guys gets us pretty excited. Here’s a fun little experiment… -Oven mits -Santa Hat -Set of dice -Pass every time a number higher than 7 is rolled. -a gift you can have if you are holding it completely unwrapped. Notice the quickness and the urgency and the effort. Even though we didn’t know what was in it. Since we suspected that their was something good in there we went after it. What happens to us when it comes to having that type of energy when it comes to seeing people as a soul that needs reconciliation to God? Think about our conditioned response…most folks we have shared with have been indifferent, some have even been a bit mean, a few have come near for a time but then walked away after we’ve given our heart to them and that hurts. Can you see what this reveals? It shows that our view is pretty selfish. Since the most common result is not pleasing we lack urgency and effort. But is it about us? Should it be about what we get if we are seeing like the God who sees? It is GREAT when we dive into seeing others as God does and their hearts respond with conviction and their lives change. In fact it is truly amazing, to be used in such a way. The most purposeful moments of my life and some of the things I remember with the most fondness are the lives that I have poured into and seen united to God (James Ryberg for example). We’ve all opened some gifts that were not wonderful, but if tomorrow the streets were lined with boxes wrapped in ribbons for us to open at will, we’d get out there and wade through in hopes of revealing something good. Let’s see others like that…God does.

3 Keys to Seeing Like the God Who Sees 1-Get beyond the surface 2-Observe Jesus in the gospels 3-Pray for God’s compassion 1-Get beyond the surface, and do it as soon as you can. People wear masks. We won’t know they have need and can’t be moved unless we get to know them. Do you know the mail man, the cleaning lady the guy across the street? 2-Observe Jesus in the gospels. He was all about people. He rolled up the sleeves, he sought out the messy. 3-Pray for God’s compassion each and every day. There is something about this difficult and hurting place has God paying attention and reaching out to help. It’s his love for each of us. Even the difficult ones  We can certainly have God’s eyes. In fact it’s what he expects and it’s what is best for us too. We love the way God sees us and loves us and gives to us! Just remember…

God sees us, as we truly are…and he loves us still. that’s how he sees ALL of us! Pray—”Give us your eyes”