Through His Eyes

What did Jesus see looking down from the cross? A couple of soldiers gambling for his clothes while the other soldiers mocked. His mother Mary, another Mary, and John not far from the foot of the cross looking up to him in dismay. Passersby shaking their heads in derision as if he were a common criminal.

Jesus, on the cross, is mocked in Calvary as the King of the Jews, Luke 23:36-37 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is from this view that Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”

The view from the cross sure wasn’t pretty, but the Son of God looked down from this state of the worst suffering at the hands of man and had pity, even compassion on those down below who were not suffering the same fate.

If you’re like me, you go through seasons where your view seems to be a little skewed. The view is not pretty from your vantage point. Looking in the mirror and seeing your faults makes you depressed. Life is not going as you planned it. Feelings of worthlessness come in and your soul is reeling, trying to find some footing before you fall into a pit of despair. You pray, “Lord, help me see myself through Your eyes.”

This was me a few days ago.

I found myself in great need for God to just say the words, “I love you.” I started to pray an old prayer I used to pray, “Lord, give me a small token of Your love and remind me that You love me.” Which means, “Show me or give me a small gift that just lets me know that You see me and still care.” There have been times God answered that prayer by many different means. Sometimes I received a small gift from someone. Other times it was seeing the beauty of a butterfly or a hummingbird. However, I stopped in mid-sentence before I finished the prayer and a new thought began to pop up in my mind that reminded me of the greatest display of God’s love: The Cross.

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8

I cried, “Lord, how can I forget how You died for me? You already showed me the greatest way any man can show love through self-sacrifice.”

This vision of the cross snapped me out of my funk. I saw myself through His eyes from the view of the cross. His love and compassion is overwhelming.

We can look at ourselves in the mirror and not like what we see. We see our faults better than anyone else. Those lines. The acne scars or the acne. I thought adult were not supposed to have those! I digress. 🙂 The dimples where there shouldn’t be dimples. You know what I’m talking about! The gray hairs. You know I heard the opposite sex actually find gray hair attractive? It’s true. I mean, hello! George Clooney! Even men find gray hair attractive on women. Sorry, I digress again. We know our own weaknesses. Sure, people can point them out to us too, but we know them better than anyone else, if we’re really honest.

But OH! If we could only see ourselves the way God sees us. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are His works and this our soul needs to know! See Psalm 139:14.

We need to look into God’s eyes and see what He sees. We are the apple of His eye. In Deuteronomy we can see how God felt about Jacob a.k.a. Israel the nation. What God felt for them, He feels for us, His adopted children who have been grafted into the family of God.

“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” Deu. 32:10.

Most of us have heard this phrase before, “the apple of his eye”. Apple in the Hebrew is referring to the pupil of the eye, the very center of the eye. Think about how when you are real close to someone, looking into the eyes of the one who is looking at you. What image do you see in the apple of their eye? It’s you. You are the center of God’s vision. His eyes are on you. He is focused on you, watching you with love and compassion. Does that not make you go weak in the knees?

Beloved, anytime you doubt your worth and can’t remember who you are, look into His eyes and see the love He has for you. Here is the view through His eyes: He sees you as beautiful. You are loved, the apple of His eye. He loves you so much He paid to have you spend eternity with Him.

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I had to throw in a George Clooney picture. Enjoy, ladies. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, gray hair is attractive. And I as soon as I believe that I won’t have the urge to color my hair whenever I see my gray hairs.

English: George Clooney at the 2009 Venice Film Festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)