My Face

My little Adi is learning to pull up these days. She is even standing alone for a few seconds right now. For the past few weeks now, she has become entranced with my face. Or anyone’s face for that matter. She wants to touch every nook, cranny, wrinkle, and corner of my face. She pulls open my mouth to discover what’s inside. She is curious about it all right now. My little sponge even has learned to turn my cheek so she can get a better view of which ever part she is investigating at the moment. She will work all her might to crawl across the room, over my legs, and into my lap just to look at my face. I often wonder why my hands or feet don’t offer such excitement to her. But again, this makes me think…

How hard must my little one have worked to get to me. I doubt she took into account the obstacles she would face as her little legs and arms quickly squirmed back and forth.
The toys.
The dog.
The big sister.
And the miniature recliner.

What would be our equivalent to her trek across the large living room? What would make us want something so bad that we aren’t even distracted by what’s around us?
The fun things.
The odd & furry things.
The noisy things.
And the comfortable things.

Oh, that my heart would want to work my hardest to get to Jesus and just explore his face. That I would dismiss the distractions around me just to turn his cheek so I can really look into his eyes and discover what he truly looks like. That I would take the time to learn about the wrinkles around his eyes. And that I would continually squirm to keep requesting more of his attention.

Hear O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says, “Your face Lord, I do seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Psalm 27:7-9a (ESV)

My Voice

I observed a great little moment recently. I went to pick up my baby daughter from the childcare room at our gym. Above the chaotic hum of a room full of other kids playing, my little 7 month old heard me calling her name. Her back was to me, but she quickly turned her petite little body to face me, and with a smile bigger than her pacifier, she started her mad-dash to crawl to me as fast as she could. All of this happened in just a few short seconds, but this moment will be permanently secured in the file cabinet of my brain.
As a mom, this makes my heart soar. As a Christian, it reminds me of the importance of our ability to hear God’s voice.
Adi was busy playing in the midst of a full room of kids running around. She had so much to keep her attention. But the minute she heard me calling her name, she dropped what she was doing and came running…well crawling actually…to me. She recognized my voice. She heard me call her name. And she responded.
Jesus said that the sheep know his voice and come when he calls. (John 10:26)
How did my little girl become familiar to my voice? She hears me all the time. Ever since her little ears could hear, my voice was there. I bet you can see where I am going with this…
We have the wonderful opportunity to know and hear God’s voice so well we can distinguish it from a crowded, chaotic world. We have the chance to be so familiar to his voice, that our attention can be grabbed despite the distractions that surround us. So, how do we become familiar to God’s voice, just as my little one knows my voice?
We spend time listening to him.
We spend time learning about him.
And we spend time loving him.
Once we can recognize God’s voice above the chaotic hum of our world, let’s take off running...or crawling…to him with a great big, double-dimple smile. Let’s get so used to God calling our names that the fancy games, fun people, and loud noises don’t drown out his voice.