“But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” —Isaiah 66:2

“God scrutinizes mankind with focused intensity. He cares intensely for us and about us. He studies our responses and weighs our attitudes…We can do nothing to avoid His gaze; however, it is possible to invite Him to an even greater attentiveness of our lives…He looks with favor upon the upright. To put it another way, if He likes you, He looks at you. 

“God is on a holy search. ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him’ (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is looking for the perfect and loyal heart, and when He finds it, His eyes cease their searching, and they bore down with great fascination and excitement upon the one who loves Him so devoutly. Those who come under such intense scrutiny gain great favor from the Lord. 

“Wise believers—those who have come to value the true treasures of the kingdom—will pant for this kind of attention. They’ll stand and wave and cry, ‘Here, Lord, I’m over here! Come, Lord, and set Your gaze upon me!’ Reclusing to the secret place is like painting a huge bull’s eye on yourself. You’re making a statement to heaven, ‘Lord, here I am. Have mercy upon me, and visit me. Lift up the light of Your countenance and look upon me, O Lord!’

“When He looks upon you for good, it is with eyes ablaze. His fiery eyes can’t but test you. God’s fire is heartwarming and impassioning, but it’s also calculatedly volatile and dangerously consuming. When God’s fire explodes in your life, you can rest assured He is beholding you very closely. He is squinting at you, searching you with His eyelids, testing your every response. He is testing you to see if your heart will remain loyal to Him through the scrutiny. 

“Oh, the horror of God turning His eyes away from us! It was an awful declaration of judgment when God said, ‘I will hide My face from them’ (Deuteronomy 32:20). Lord, we cannot even begin to imagine such darkness! No, Lord, do not turn away from us! Even though it means the fire of Your eyes, look upon us for good. Our hearts are returning to our first prayer which we really meant all along. Look on us, visit us, come to us, O consuming fire! 

“When my mind wanders from a conscious focus upon the Lord, and I am distracted by the affairs of everyday life, upon returning to Christ in my thoughts comes this awesome realization: He was there all along, waiting for my thoughts to return to Him! He is never disconnected or distracted away from me, not even for a split second. The moment my mind turns to Him, His Spirit immediately connects with my spirit and our fellowship continues, unbroken. I am in awe of this truth 

“There is a place of rich affection where, in the quiet of our garden, we invoke the gaze of our Beloved. ‘Fix Your eyes on me, altogether Lovely One!’ Such a resolute heart gains His extravagant response, ‘You have ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse; you have ravished My heart with one look of your eyes’ (Song of Solomon 4:9). Eyes locked, hearts burning…this is the secret place.”—Bob Sorge

My Prayer

“This is all I want in all my life, Lord. Oh, that my life may totally ravish Your heart with desire. I know You love me but Lord, how I want Your gaze to be squarely upon me, to look intently at me, to never look away. I know that Your gaze comes with great testings at times, but Lord, I would rather have Your gaze with their fiery testings than to live in the darkness of not having Your gaze. Living outside Your gaze is total darkness and horror. What a wasted being I would be if Your eyes were turned away from me. So my Lord and God, please—intently look at me. Point out my failures and shortcomings. Unfold my wrong desires and slanted motivations. Uncover my nakedness Lord, but still gaze at me. If You could go searching for Adam even when He was hiding away covered with leaves, please find me out wherever and whenever I am hiding away with my polluted human coverings. But unlike Adam, I will come out willingly and admit where I have failed. I will blame no one—so that I don’t lose Your gaze. I own up Lord. I need You most desperately—even when I fail. I still need You. Please Lord, draw near to me. Draw near now. Not tomorrow. Let Your gaze pierce through me and show me to me. I am desperate for Your touch, Your gaze, Your presence. You have always been there for me. I am the wanderer—always getting away from You. But today Lord, I wander back. I will stay with You, recline with You. Oh my Lord and lover, I am love sick. Don’t turn me away my Beloved. Forgive my trespasses and still draw me into Your warm gaze and embrace. This is my heart cry today. Amen.”

The Challenge

Stay humble, contrite and needy. Don’t ever learn to live without His gaze squarely upon you.