Eyes and Ears

God has blessed most of us with eyes that see and ears that hear. In so many ways these two senses enable us to absorb the sights of God's creation and man's disfigurement of it and hear the glories of birdsong and the anguished cries of grief-stricken children and everything in between. What marvellous gifts! I am so thankful Father for hearing well and seeing clearly - with the help of new glasses.

But God uses these two senses as they function relationally. His desire is that we see him and hear him. The seeing is that incredible gift of vision, seeing the Transcendent One - creature gazing in awe and wonder upon the Creator. Moses was denied such vision but the disciples were afforded it. They saw the Transcendent God, and he looked into their eyes. Heaven and Earth gazed into one another's depths. Followers of Jesus ever since his Ascension "see" him no longer, but from time to time he reveals himself. Vision and dreams the prophet says. Visions and dreams the Spirit gives. Behold your God!

There is a "seeing" which is granted to some - the Samuel-type anointing. The Seer sees God in his eternal Triunity and sees things from the Throne as He sees them. A seeing that is not merely informational, but is also revelational. There is a Revelation of the eternal to the temporal of the transcendent to the touchable. The lesser is empowered, enriched and expanded by the greater. A walk through Ezekiel stumbles on "the things I show you" . God's heart is to share himself and how he sees things.

There is a hearing in the heart. A reading of the Scriptures causes our soul to vibrate like a plucked stringed instrument. A sermon preached causes a tingling in our spine. A lyric reduces us to tears of gratitude. We hear with our spiritual ears. But there is a hearing which is placing ourselves in His presence. Our eyes focused, our ears attuned. We are alert, attentive, waiting, waiting. We are like a concierge ready, alert, anticipating God's every move and ready to respond to his slightest indication. We live for him, to do his will, to respond to his desires. That is the "door-keeper in the house of my God". Such seeing, such hearing, such attentiveness is simply love - loving to do whatever he says, whenever he says it. " I have come to do the will of Him who sent me..." What a life! Loving God, gazing upon Him, seeing him, hearing him, serving him. It is no mistake that time and again God says " he who as ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church."