“Look at me.” “Look at me.” If I heard this once, I’ve heard it about a hundred times. Really, a hundred times if not more. Recently I experienced someone else instructing my class for three days. The gentleman was very knowledgeable in what we were studying. I even thought at first, “He’s sarcastically funny. He’ll be fun.” But then…when my babies (students) were being belittled, that sarcasm got old, real fast.
We were on a three day, in-school fieldtrip. This trip is often the highlight of this grade level. Why? Because the classroom is outdoors and the kids get to experience and learn survival lessons, get knee deep in the water to discover how healthy our water source is, pet and hold critters that some will most likely never encounter in their lives, and much more. Tons of fun is to be had.
Through conversation, I discovered the type of study this gentleman earned in college, where he had worked before, and the final key to the puzzle, if he had any children of his own. You see, as a teacher, I’ve learned that one can tell if a teacher has children of their own or not. Those that do, their patience is often a little more tolerant. I know, I was the same way. I’ve noticed how I had changed from before having children to going back into the school system years later with school-age children. There is just something about a parent’s tolerance.
By the end of the three days, we (my students and I) were able to giggle or smile every time we heard the instructor say “Look at me.” It was his go-to line, even when we were looking at him. (I’m smiling just thinking about it.) When we boarded the bus to return back to school, I jokingly told him that we’ve renamed him “Mr. Look at me”. He laughed in the acknowledgement of it all and agreed. (You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself in life, and I’m grateful that he accepted it in that manner.)
This made me think about God. I’ve done some (not tons) of searching in the bible for if there was a time that God was constantly telling us to “look at Him”. I brought this story up in conversation with my Sunday school girls, and said, “Here’s the difference. The instructor was demanding us to look at him. It was too the point that we didn’t want to. But God doesn’t demand us to, He desires for us to look to Him.”
God has given us free-will. If He demanded us to do certain things, it would lose the value of being a relationship. Jesus desires a relationship with us, He doesn’t demand it.
Psalm 105:4 says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek His face always.” God didn’t say “Look at Me”, The Psalmist is encouraging us to look to the Lord, due to his own experience. I desire to look to the Lord because I know that I need His strength daily; all day, every day.
Isaiah 40:26 reads, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Again, we weren’t being demanded to look at God because He wanted our full attention, He wanted us to look to the heavens to illustrate a point.
Micah 7:7 states, “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” Again, God is not instructing us to look at Him, but He allows us to see an example of someone looking to Him for help and describes the outcome of what happens when we do look to the Lord.
I pray that you will look to God for everything. Not just in times of trouble, but all day, every day. Seek His face continually.
I pray God’s abundant love and much joy for y’all.
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