His eyes

For months now I have been praying specifically for my eyes. I have been praying that my eyes see people as Jesus does not as I do. Here is the thing people, I am a sinner. I confess to all of you I have a judgmental spirit. It is a hard thing to surrender because it is very easy for me to see people on the surface and ultimately feel like I know them. I am sure because of this I have ruined relationships both personally and professionally. But each and every day I try to place this sin at the cross and live boldly for God doing His will. 

In my last blog I explained my heart's desire to love people like God does. You can imagine how hard this is when you struggle with judgement. Through a lot of time in prayer and with the Word, I feel that with each day the judgement spirit I have is becoming less and less and life is becoming more and more full. Before traveling back to the Unites States this year, I began praying harder to see people with God's eyes. I wanted to not only look past my personal perspective of western culture but also the walls that people hide behind. 

Walls...WE ALL HAVE THEM!!! Be it either humor, a talent or hobby, our cell phones or the way we dress, we all have things we do to hide our insecurities. There is one who can look past the walls we think work and into our heart. Only God can see past our false hopes and into the heart of the issue. One thing that I desire to do is to see people past their wall. I don't care what you are hiding. Whatever it is, I want to love you the way God does and that is life beyond the wall. 

This week I went to ArtPrize with some friends. ArtPrize is a great event that displays hundreds of pieces of art all over downtown Grand Rapids. It was a beautiful day to just walk around and enjoy not only the gift of creativity that God gives people but also just enjoy His creation. As we walked though, my heart got heavier and heavier. With each step, I kept seeing people hiding. The streets were full of people from every demographic. There were business men and women who put on their best power suits and were conquering whatever came in their path. There were many groups of students who were there on school field trips. There were many moms trying to keep count of the students who had no desire to stay close to each other but would rather roll down a hill than look at art. There were people who didn't know the city streets at all and they were people who knew the streets well, because the streets were their home. Every person I saw, I kept thinking "this person is made in God's image." 

The one in the power suit with their face glued to the phone...God's image. 

The child wearing a safety yellow shirt rolling down the hill...God's image.

The mom with her Starbucks cup and clipboard...God's image. 

The man, sitting on streets wearing the clothes he has worn for days and not looking anyone in the eye as they passed him by...God's image. 

As my friend's and I drove home I just couldn't get past what I saw. I didn't see judgement, but God's image. As beautiful as it was, it was also heartbreaking, because I wonder if any of those I saw, saw themselves that way. 

Did the one in the power suit know that their success in life in not measured by their career but by their Abba? 

Did the child rolling down the hill know that God made that hill for them to have fun on? 

Did the mom realize that no matter how many eye rolls she got that day, she was still great in God's eyes? 

Did the man on the street know that their is a mansion waiting for him, if he believes that he a child of God? 

ArtPrize was overwhelming, but I have to say that everyday this week has been like this. Wherever I go, my heart is becoming broken to those around me. I desperately desire for people to see themselves beyond the walls we put up. There is freedom beyond the walls. 

Please hear my heart, I am a sinner. I struggle with earthly issues. I do not have anything figured out and praise God daily for His grace. I just desire to live more simply and see others through the eyes of God. I want to live in the love of my Abba rather than the judgement of my flesh. And I want others to do the same, because when you do life is richer. Yes there are moments when your heart is so heavy it is hard to breath, but then there are moments when you gather with people and you laugh so hard you cry. There are moments when because who you are with time stops. There are moments when because you are loving those around you, you see past whatever journey they are on or struggle they have and you see them as God does, His precious child who He would do anything for so that they can know His joy and love.