I read this once:
Understanding our identity helps us begin to grasp the significance of the Father's heart for us. As this happens, it shapes our perspective of life in ways that are hard to imagine. It allows us to clearly see the truth of God's love. It also helps us look past the distortions of the brokenness that the realities of this world present to us.
God really showed me this several years ago, as I was trying to work with our godchildren on Scripture memory. Every Sunday morning, people from our simple church would come over for brunch, and we would spend time together. After brunch was over, I would pick a Bible verse and teach it to Jace and Gloriana. Jace was seven, and Gloriana was a very precocious four-year-old.
My goal in teaching them the verse each week was to go beyond Scripture memory and help them to discover the person behind the words. On this particular Sunday, I was teaching them one of my favorites: Proverbs 16:15. In the light of the king's face is life, And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain. My main objective that week was to teach Jace and Glori the importance of seeking the face of God.
Jace was getting it pretty easily, but Gloriana was struggling a bit. I decided that maybe she would understand things easier if she could act it out, so I sent her about twenty feet down the hallway and asked her to stop and face me.
"Gloriana, look at me," I said. "Now what do you see?"
"Uhh, I see you, Uncle Brad."
"What else do you see?"
She frowned. "I see the sofa you are sitting on, and the window behind you."
She did not seem too enthusiastic about my object lesson. I had her walk about ten feet closer and then asked her the question again.
"Gloriana, what: do you see?"
This time she let out a little huff before she answered. "I see you, Uncle Brad."
"What else do you see?"
"The same things I saw before," she said. "I see the sofa and the window."
"Look closer, Gloriana," I said. "Can you see anything else?"
I could see her little eyes focusing as she started to notice details that she could not see from her original view. Now we were getting someplace.
My goal was for her to see that if she got closer to me, then she would be able to see me in more details. I had her come and stand right in front of my face. I was sure that this would help her to understand my point. Little did I know that she was getting ready to go beyond that and to teach me one of the most important lessons I have ever learned.
As she stood just a few inches away from my face, I repeated my instructions.
"Gloriana, look at me. Now what do you see"
As I have already stated, Gloriana was a precocious little four-year-old. As she opened her mouth to answer, I watched her facial expression change from the kind of exasperation a teenager trapped in a four-year-old's body would express at being asked the same question for a third time, into amazement and wonder.
"Gloriana, what do you see?"
"Ah!" she squeaked. "I see me! I see me!"
It took me a moment to figure out what she meant. Then it hit me. Glori was standing close enough to me that she was seeing her own reflection in my eyes. I think my spirit went into shock that morning as God used a child to teach me the lesson of a lifetime.
When we get close enough to God, not only are we changed from glory to glory as we behold His beauty, but we become free to see ourselves in His eyes. When we see ourselves in the eyes of His love, it is without all of the distortions and brokenness of this life.
When we determine to pursue God as a loving Father, with the confidence that we belong in His presence because we are His children, it will free us to get close enough to see ourselves in His eyes. Who you are in the Father's eyes is who you really are. Your experience in this world will try to convince you that you are guilty and condemned, but through His eyes, you are Holy and blameless before Him in love.
Ephesians 2:6 says that you are already "seated with Christ in the heavenly realms." We know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, which means that we are too. I believe that we were meant to live this life from the lap of our Father, drawing close to His heart, looking deep into His eyes.
