‘in his eyes’

Who are we in his eyes?

What about when we’ve missed a great opportunity in the eyes of those around us?

What about when we don’t measure up to the ideals of ministry in our own eyes?

‘he loves me, he loves me not’

We may be tempted to start plucking appraisals of our worth from the circle of things we have either accomplished or left undone in an unconscious search for an answer to the question of his love.

Offered support and encouragement to someone in need … he loves me.

Failed to stay focussed in a teaching opportunity … he loves me not.

Brought peace to a conflicted situation … he loves me.

Failed to perform as expected … he loves me not.

Exercised wisdom … he loves me.

Failed to do so …

Uh oh.

We see where this kind of thinking is taking us and we decide to postpone the unsubstantiated verdict.  We know this is ridiculous … scripture is meticulous with its insistence on God’s grace as the foundation of our acceptance in Christ … but we may become stuck on human approval or tuck away thoughts of either earning or losing favour by our actions or inactions if our inner person still smiles on golden contributions as being any form of tool to gain and hold his affection.

Yes … we are called to holy living and self giving.

No … his love is not based on how well we are doing.

Yes … we desire to serve with excellence to the best of our ability.

No … his love is not contingent on our outward success or lack thereof.

Yes … we love because he first loved us.

No … there is nothing which can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

We know this, but if we don’t take every thought captive to Christ, we may become burdened with a growing suspicion that we are the one exception when external indicators such as declining numbers or financial cut backs are repeatedly raised; when we speak a minority position and face the distancing resistance of colleagues; when silence confronts our best efforts and we don’t know where we stand.

What about those among whom we serve:  do they love us, do they not, does it matter?

What about the One who serves us: does he love us, does he not?

The latter is never in question regardless of how long we play the daisy game.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5: 1-5)

Summer daisies remind us of the daily summary of his final word to us.

Love.  Always love.

‘Lord, open the eyes of our hearts to truly see the depth of your love for us.  May your smile of continual grace be upon us to reject the displaced petals of assessment by others who question our worth or by our own ego struggling to be heard, and let us line the road of faith with a simple welcoming of your enduring love ever ready to save.  

For any who are attempting to stand tall though only a few positive affirmations remain as days ease from one to the next, blend these servant leaders into an integral part of the whole and mend broken hearts with reassurance that your eye upon their lives has plans of golden city streets though humbled now upon a gravel lane far from home. Wash them in the sunshine of your love until every petal of proud performance drops and they become fully aware that they are the apple of your eye, the daisy of your doing apart from any righteous or unrighteous acts of their own.  

Thank you that we can know the answer is simple … it is always ‘yes’ in Jesus Christ.  Amen.’