God's Expressions

Children are needy. Let me rephrase that. Children are desperately needy. Every committed parent knows this. A child won’t survive without an adult watching over them, protecting them, helping them, guiding them, providing for them and doing the thousand things necessary for them as they grow.

The Bible says that to enter into God’s family, we must become like children. We are needy. Please, I’m not using this as an excuse, but I’m presenting it as a fact. We are desperately needy. We are faulty, jealous, self-absorbed, weak-minded, lazy, with little faith and with too much pride. But God is happy to have us call Him “daddy.”

What could possibly be a better deal than that? Seriously, I cannot think of a better deal.  Anywhere.

What I’m driving at here is that I want to daily recognize how needy I am for God. I feel like a minnow in a big ocean and there are a lot of big fish that can take me out…big fish over which I have no, zero, zilch control.

I am needy for the basics…air, water, food…and the billions and trillions of miracles that happen…uh…miraculously inside my body. A heart that beats, lungs that miraculously take in air and expel the exhaust, blood that flows, the electrical system that moves me. I mean, can’t we just flip through an anatomy book and count the hundreds and thousands and millions of minor miracles each moment that keep us alive.

And other needs. I get scared. I get angry. I get frustrated. I get tempted. I get tired. I am needy for God.

And as I’m trying to seek God’s face in my busy day, I’m beginning to find…and I’m pretty sure it’s not just my imagination…that for each of my weaknesses and needs, God’s face has an expression to help me overcome my weakness.

As I go through my day, I’m trying to remember to ask God for faith and the filling of His Holy Spirit and trying to have conversation…real conversation with him, and then trying to seek His face. Probably in 24 hours…maybe I’m up to 20 minutes a day.

And as I mentioned before, I am trying to imagine what his face could look like…a face with these expressions towards me…the image of the expressions of what every child wants…and desperately needs from their parent or parents: Love, mercy, kindness, acceptance, affirmation, affection, commitment, enthusiasm, nurturing, all knowledge, all wisdom, all power, compassion, encouragement, peace, serenity, etc.

And as I struggle through my workday, different issues come up. Minor annoyances that take away my joy. When I make mistakes, I get insecure and get fearful. Several items that come out of nowhere and need to be done “right now‘ that stress me out. You know, the things of life which so easily derail me.

And when I stop for a moment and seek to imagine the expressions on God’s face and “hear” Him say “come to me” and see his power and commitment to me, I’m not fearful anymore and can find joy in my day. 

When frustrations come up and I look at his wisdom and commitment to me, I’m better able to accept He’s got a plan for this, and relax and enjoy Him and let the frustrations go. 

When I screw up (and I screw up a lot), I look at his expression of love, and mercy, and acceptance of me and realize that I don’t have to be perfect, but I’m safe in His perfection, I’m able to return to a sense of peace much more quickly. 

When I react in anger and allow stress to overcome, I’m much more able to pull my eyes off the problem, look at His expression of love for me, see how huge He is and how small my problem is, and that everything is truly under control and I don’t need to be anxious about anything because He controls Everything. And I’m able to recover to a state of peace much more quickly.

I know others have much bigger battlefields with higher stakes, but this is my battlefield for now and I desire to continue on in looking for God’s expressions in as many circumstances as I can, and taking delight and comfort and aid, and every kind of help from Him for I am needy.  Desperately needy.