EYES OF COMPASSION

“When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, ‘Why are your faces downcast today?’”  (Genesis 40:6-7 ESV)

Joseph’s suffering gave him eyes of compassion.

In the midst of the storm, do you read the faces of people around you the way Joseph did? Most people wear on their faces what is going on inside of them.

Do you look for friends, coworkers, people who serve you, or children in your life, and notice if their faces are downcast? It is a paradox: Self-preoccupation is actually self-defeating and produces loneliness.

Joseph expressed his heart to his fellow prisoners in a single question: “Why are your faces downcast today?”

Someone noticed them. Someone cared about their lives. Words can do this. Every word you speak boosts someone’s hope a bit, or kills it just a little…

Here’s a little test: During the stormy periods in your life, how often have you expressed genuine concern for others when you have had nothing to gain? 

-- John Ortberg in “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat”

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SACRED TEARS

"You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your record?" (Psalm 56:8)

In her book, “Strange Scriptures That Perplex the Western Mind” (Erdmans, 1940), Barbara M. Bowen provides some background on the image the psalmist may have been referring to. She describes the old custom of collecting the tears of a family and preserving the tears in bottles. When death or serious trouble has occurred, each member of the family brought his or her tear bottle and collected tears from all the persons present. These bottles were sacred to the family members because they represented all the sorrows of the family. Each person was buried with his or her tear bottle. Many of these have been found in ancient tombs

I had an experience recently that enriched this image of the psalmist for me. I was counseling with a young woman, Leigh Hobbson, who had recently lost one of the most important persons in her life -- a great-aunt who was almost like a mother to her. It was painful -- and she had done a lot of crying, which is cleansing and healing.

One morning, Leigh's six-year-old daughter, Katy, witnessing her mother's grief, painted her a picture and gave it, with some other love tokens, to her mom and said, "I want you to feel better."

That night when Leigh was tucking Katy into bed she thanked her and told her that her love gifts did make her feel better. Then she added, "But Katy, I want you to know that Mommy may cry a lot more, because I love Ola so much." "But Mommy," Katy said, "I'm afraid you'll turn into a tear." "Well," said Leigh, "If I turned into a tear, would you wipe me up?" "No," said Katy, "I would put you into my eye."

Wow! What perception and wisdom -- what a picture of love! The psalmist was praying that somehow God would take his tears, use them, make them God's own -- and, yes, even redeem them. 

-- Maxie Dunnam in “Living the Psalms”

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WHERE ARE YOUR EYES FOCUSED?

NOTE: Yesterday I preached on "Focusing on Jesus" and used two photos of mine to make the point that it matters what we focus on. Those photos are the first two images on my website: www.davidt-wilkinson.artistwebsites.com. Today's quote continues that theme of being focused on Christ.

WHERE ARE YOUR EYES FOCUSED?

Some years ago a sociologist accompanied a group of mountain climbers on an expedition. Among other things, he observed a distinct correlation between cloud cover and contentment. When there was no cloud cover and the peak was in view, the climbers were energetic and cooperative. When the gray clouds eclipsed the view of the mountaintop, though, the climbers were sullen and selfish.

The same thing happens to us. As long as our eyes are on God's majesty there is a bounce in our step. But let our eyes focus on the dirt beneath us and we will grumble about every rock and crevice we have to cross. For this reason Paul urged, "Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to the things going on around Christ -- that's where the action is. See things from His perspective." (Colossians 3:2 MSG)

-- Max Lucado in Let the Journey Begin

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FOCUSING ON CHRIST

You could almost believe the apostle had today in mind when he wrote to his young friend, "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care.  Turn away from Godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing, have wandered from the faith"  (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

With all of this information and all these options at our fingertips, it is more important than ever that we stay focused on the true God and His Son, Jesus, not allowing ourselves to be sidetracked into areas of false teaching that could prove destructive to our faith.

When you stop to think about it, the key to just about everything lies in focus.

The writer to the Hebrews called it "fixing our thoughts" and "fixing our eyes."  "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess … Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 3:1; 12:2). In other words, rivet your attention on Jesus.  Lock onto God's Son for dear life. Even when distractions around you seem overpowering.  Even when your heart is breaking.

-- Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton in More Jesus, Less Religion


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LOOKING TO THE LORD

To You I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,...
so our eyes look to the Lord our God. (Psalm 123:1,2 NRSV)

The way each day will look to you all starts with Who you're looking to.

 

-- Unknown

 

 

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