God Returns Our Gaze

Caraline came running into the house one afternoon, screaming and crying. Alarmed, I ran to meet her in the living room, anxious to see what was wrong and what she needed. Holding out bleeding palms and cradling bleeding knees, she scream-cried half sentences, hysterically leaning into my chest as we huddled on the floor for a few minutes. Holding her, listening to the disjointed phrases and sobs, I began to understand she had fallen off her bike on the road because her older brother had startled her, causing her to skid. She was frightened, offended, and pretty skinned up. 

Slowly I cupped her little chin, and lifted her face to look at mine. “I got you. I’m here, Let me see.” I began to lift her up on the bar to see her wounds. Her instinct was to curl up, huddle with her raw palms tightly held to her chest, her legs close in. Coaxing her to extend her hands, I could see the gravel and dirt that had invaded and needed removal. Her knees and shins were a mess, dragged down the road, skinned deeply in spots, full of dirt. Her eyes were darting from cut to cut, tears refilling at a similar pace to the blood flow. Her chest heaving, her body shaking, she began to sob even more. “Look at me, Caraline,” became my coo. “Don’t look at the hurt, look at me. I’ll take care of it.” Slowly she began to tune in to my voice as I asked her to shift her focus to me. 

Yet with new throbs of pain, her eyes would dart to the cuts, to the injuries. And I found myself repositioning, seeking her eyes, wanting her to focus on me, on my words, allowing my comforting touch to clean and bandage her wounds while I sought to keep her eyes fixed on my own. I offered her protection and comfort. I paved the way for healing by cleaning and tending. 

I’m happy to say, my little one made it through. Bandaged and tenderly ensconced on the couch, she rested that afternoon. 

We are often like Caraline, aren’t we? Wounded and offended, we come racing to our Father. Disconsolate, maybe unable to offer a good explanation, we sob the cries of our hearts, huddled, and even self protective. 

But Jesus cups our chin. He lifts our gaze up to His eyes, inviting us to lock eyes with Him, knowing that in the moment we focus on Him and not our wound, healing can begin. Often my eyes dart back to my wounded heart, I want to mourn the hurt or frighten myself again with the amount of bleeding or injury. Do you? He bends down over and over, encouraging us to gaze on His face as He tends our heart. Sometimes the cleaning is painful, the dirt that needs scrubbing makes us want to wrench our wound away.

Sometimes we huddle up. We mistakenly feel that holding our hurt or desperation tightly against our chest will fix things, or at least make the ache less. But He gently reaches in and takes our wounded hands and hearts, exposing the injuries to His Light and his steadfast love. All the while inviting our eyes to seek His face. For He knows that looking to Him, the founder and perfecter of our faith, will give us endurance for the moment.  

He promises us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” ~Matthew 11:28-30 

Where are you desperately hurt? With what wounds have you run to your Father and then huddled inward, cradling your wounds, longing for help but self protective? We have been talking about rest every week this year, centered on this beautiful invitation to exchange the burdensome yoke for His yoke that leads to rest. 

He calls us to Rest. 

He invites us to Recover the life He planned for us before sin wrecked our lives. 

He leads us to Rearrange our priorities and plans. 

He offers to Reel in our emotions and steady our heart. 

And God Returns our gaze. He invites our darting eyes to focus on Him alone, to stop flicking to the unknowns, the hurts, the worries, the overwhelm. He continually invites us to Come and He runs to meet us. Peace and rest result. 

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 14:22-33

Psalm 95:6-7

Romans 8:15-16