Be Thou My Vision: Four ways to fix our gaze on God.

[Continuing our study of Psalm 27. We looked at confidence and the fear of man last week…thanks for joining us today.]

One thing I have asked of the LORD, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD … v.4

Of all the evildoers, adversaries and foes that we face, the greatest true danger is  losing our vision of the Lord.

What is danger if it is not primarily distraction?

In Psalm 27 verse 4, David turns from proclaiming his confidence in the One True God to proclaiming his single-minded vision. He refuses to give those enemies any more poetic presence, turning his gaze instead to His great and glorious God.

The best way to defeat our foes is by starving them of attention.

Haven’t you found this to be true? Most often the battle is fought in our minds. Will we dwell on the looming darkness, impending doom, the what-ifs and maybes and unknowns? Or will be dwell in the presence of the LORD, seeking the one thing that fuels our holy fire.

Perhaps the greatest danger believers face today is subtle enemy of distraction. Even as I finished typing that sentence I had several split-second thought-darts shoot through my mind, “I should check my email. I wonder what’s on Facebook. Ooh that bread in the oven smells good.” Hardly a moment goes by that isn’t threatened by the enemy of distraction. But mastering our distractions and disciplining our minds and hearts after God is the key to a steadfast and resolute vision — to a single-minded life.

Let’s look at 4 ways we develop godly Vision:

1. Attention. God speaks to us in a whisper oftentimes. And if we’re not careful our lives can be so busy, so loud, so busied and harried and crowded that we don’t stand a chance of hearing His beautiful whisper. Living the attentive life includes both narrowing our gaze and whittling our life down to the essentials and broadening our scope of vision enough look, see, notice.

Notice when a bush is burning.

When God was giving Moses His epic commissioning to deliver His people, He revealed Himself in a burning bush. Not a voice. A bush. Exodus 3:3-4 reads,

“Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.’  When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!’ and he said, “Here I am.”

God spoke audibly when He saw that Moses looked, noticed, turned aside. When He saw evidence that Moses knew how to see.

Do we?  I wonder what God might want to speak …

2. Authenticity. If we want a real vision we must be real people. Sadly, because many of us still lack the confidence of knowing who we are in Christ, we’re still living a life of veneer, a thin, shiny, fake surface that covers up the real stuff beneath.  Our friendships take place online, who we are communicated in a few facebook sentences. A flattering profile picture replaces our real face (finger pointing at myself here). But our Savior — who bled and died and carries His scars for all eternity — redeemed the real us, the blemished and beautiful people He calls His own. It is the authentic, the “clear at center,” the pure in heart who will see God.

3. Adoration. Similarly, we cannot fake a true and vibrant relationship with Christ. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet not because she thought she ought, but because she adored Him. She wanted to be at His feet. David wants to be in God’s presence, dwelling in His temple. Because at the end of the day we  do what want. To transform our vision we must allow God to transform our desires. We must learn to enjoy God, to like God, to engage with God so often that we begin to crave His presence. When He becomes our vision, life’s vision falls into place.

4. Action. David says one thing he asks of the LORD, and that he will seek after. This is no passive vision!  There is an asking, waiting, and seeking. A time to wait in stillness and a time to move forward in confidence with whatever God has shown. This is a beautiful balance of waiting and pursuing, resting and acting. Nearness to God is the only way we know this beautiful balance. There is no recipe, no diagram to follow. Like the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, we simply learn to see Him. He then shows us the way to go. We act, by faith, with our eyes on Him.

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In what ways have your “enemies” distracted you from that holy gaze at the greatness of Your God? They don’t deserve any more attention, amen? Let’s fix our eyes instead on our glorious God. Thank you for reading…