God desires that we keep our eyes focused on him.

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

“The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
Psalm 145:15-16 New International Version

You’ve probably admired pictures of people where the background is blurry, even part of the person’s face is blurry, but the eyes are tack sharp. Here is an important tip when taking portraits: Make sure the subjects eyes are in focus.

To be honest with you, the eyes of this young Honduran girl are too soft. I love how her dark eyes reflect the light from the windows in the room where we were sitting, but I didn’t do a good job of finding my focus. Though my focus was off, there’s no mistaking that her eyes were focused on the camera.

What captivates our eyes?

King David declared that the eyes of “all” look to God to provide what they need at the proper time. We might read the word “all” as meaning every human creature, but David literally means everything. All of God’s creatures wait eagerly for him to provide.

There is a play on words in the Hebrew. The eyes of all living things SHABAR (wait) for God, and God SHABAH (satisfies) the desire of all living things. Waiting for God and his provision are as closely tied to each other as these two Hebrew words sound. Even when we can’t see it or taste it, God is near to provide for us.

Trust is the key in this relationship between waiting for God and his ability to provide. Two verses later King David writes, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Our eyes look to God and wait for him because we trust him to be faithful to his promises.

Though waiting for the Lord to satisfy our desires might be difficult, God calls us to keep our eyes focus on his promise. He will provide.

Picture and Text Copyright Douglas P Brauner