by Pastor Douglas Brauner

God’s Eyes Can Be Trusted

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I’m privileged to dog sit our grand puppies once a week. This puppy is Oliver, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. As with children, I don’t show favorites between Oliver or his brother by another mother…and father, Leroy, a Chocolate Lab/Border Collie mix. But when it comes to their eyes, Oliver’s are mesmerizing.

If you know anything about the Cavalier King Charles, you know that they are the opposite of a Chocolate Lab, not to mention a Border Collie. They don’t play fetch. They don’t run in circles after their tails. They don’t constantly paw at you so that you pet them. What they do is melt your heart.

I was sitting with my computer watching television. The next thing I know, Oliver has worked his way onto my lap staring at me with his deep, dark eyes. The computer is no longer on my lap. Oliver has taken over and I’m stroking his back.

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.”
Psalm 34:15 English Standard Version

We want God to burst into our lives and make his presence known with a bang. We look for the spectacular, something overwhelming that will blow us away.

Instead, God invites us to look deeply into his eyes because his eyes are fixed on us. We who have been declared right before him through Jesus are easily distracted. We’re looking at a world set on fire by war, by drugs, by human trafficking. We become anxious about the future, not just for ourselves but our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

God takes our head in his hands, turns it toward him and says, “Look in into my eyes. See my love that I have for you. See my forgiveness. See my compassion for the worried and lost. See me. Focus on me.”

There are no better eyes, than the eyes of God. May his eyes mesmerize us.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado