Seeing as God sees

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"For the Lord DOES NOT SEE AS MAN SEES; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at THE HEART" (1 Samuel 16:7).

If only we could see as God sees, things would look a whole lot different. If we could see as God sees, people would look a whole lot different.

How?

Through God's eyes... Peter, a fisherman who was "uneducated and untrained", was a great preacher of the gospel, healing minister and leader of the Church.

Through God's eyes... Esther, an orphan who was brought up by her older cousin (Mordecai), was a queen in a foreign land and saviour of her people.

Through God's eyes... David, a young shepherd who had little regard in his family, was a great warrior, poet, writer, musician, and arguably Israel's greatest king.

Through God's eyes... Gideon, from the "weakest clan in Manasseh and the least in his father's house" was a mighty man of valour who "saved Israel from the hands of the Midianites"!

Through God's eyes... Bathsheba, a woman who lost a husband and son, was the mother of the wisest man to ever walk the earth, apart from Jesus.

Through God's eyes... Matthew, a man written off as evil in the society like all the tax collectors in his day, was an apostle, preacher of the gospel and author of the most comprehensive account of Jesus' life.

Through God's eyes... Paul, a powerful and passionate persecutor of Christians, was a great preacher of the gospel, apostle, miracle worker, evangelist, teacher, prophet and author of 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament - which form the foundation of the Christian faith.

How does God see?
1. Through the lens of love!
God sees us through the lens of love. God's sight is "blurred" by love - love for humanity. God SO LOVED you and me that He GAVE us His ONLY begotten son.
"And we have known and believed the love God has for us...We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:16,19).

Let your sight be "blurred" by love; love for God, love for people - the voiceless, the vulnerable, the broken, children, young men, young ladies, teenagers.

2. Through the lens of faith
"He saw the best in me, when everyone else around could only see the worst in me" goes a line from Marvin Sapp's 'the best in me'. Similarly, a line from "You covered me" (by Dr. R.A. Vernon, the Word Church Praise Team ft. Timothy Reddick) goes "You saw my needs when others saw my faults" - indeed God sees the best in us, even when we are full of faults and flaws, imperfections and blemishes - He sees beyond all that to the best in you and me. That is the eyes of faith!

He sees you for what you CAN be, not only what you are - regardless of how far gone you may be.

Let's see people the way God sees them
Through the eyes of God... That 8-year-old kid who hawks wares in the streets under the blazing sun during school hours could be a computer genius with tons of inventions locked inside him.

Through the eyes of God... That 13-year-old who can't correctly spell the easiest words could be the writer of 12 New York Times bestsellers.

Through the eyes of God... That drug addict who's been in and out of rehab more times than you can count could be a great preacher with a strong message of hope.

Through the eyes of God... That "wayward" girl who's barely 21 but has had multiple pregnancy abortions could save millions of young women through advocacy.

Through the eyes of God... That struggling teen who's torn in the midst of his parents' divorce saga and has resorted to alcohol and drug could be the pastor of 15,000-member Church.

Through the eyes of God - the eyes of love and faith - everything looks different. See as God sees, let your vision be "blurred" by love for people and faith in what they can become. That's only when you can see beyond the outward appearance to see the heart.
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Let's pray: Lord, I thank you for the privilege of reading your word for me today. You are the great healer of hearts and emotion, the reformer of mind and character.
I ask that you help me see people the way you see them - through love and faith.
Help me treat people - regardless of who they are - the way you treat them - with kindness and compassion. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.