My Strength & My Shield / psm28:7

11 - The People in My Life

Ever stop to wonder about the people in your life? It's a known fact that some - you could do just fine without while others, you don't know how you'd ever live without them. 

I never gave it much thought really until I witnessed the miracle of life when my daughter was born. Okay, I'm a little prejudice about that moment. After all, I was an active participant (for all 27 hours). And in those breathtaking first moments that I think only a mother can fathom the enormity of what just took place... when staring at her in silence because words were inadequate... staring because I was so in awe of the most precious gift I'd ever been given... one of my first thoughts was a simple question - How did I ever live without her? 

When I finally regained my senses, I recall that my first words were, "Oh God. She's beautiful!" I was telling Him that (as if He didn't know it already). And while I thought I loved her as much as I possibly could all the while she was growing inside of me, I knew at my first sight of her, that I'd never known love until the minute she emerged from within me. Funny how in a single moment of time, I completely understood unconditional love. I don't believe I'd ever have known that, had it not been for her arrival in my life. 

The only thing wrong with this picture is that I should love those around me with every bit as much awe, and I don't. Even when I try to, it's just not the same. There are a few very special, dear friends that I honestly do believe I'd give my life for if called upon to do so, but it took one hundred years to meet them and another hundred to let them into my world where so many walls had been built up over time due to the realities of life. Those types of friendships are rare. 

So how do I look at others - those who aren't so near and dear - how do I look at them like I look at my daughter? How do I look at them and let God knock me on the side of my head to loosen the scales over my eyes, so that I can see them as He sees them? After all, I'm a Christian, and I'm supposed to see others as God sees them. Like that's easy to do! 

But the problem doesn't lie with those I'm looking at. The problem lies with me. I don't allow myself to see clearly. I don't allow myself to see past what I despise and can pick apart, to see what God sees... the potential. I'm too wrapped up with what I see and when someone doesn't measure up and toe the line that I placed in the sand... it's really hard to see them through God's eyes, which is really all that matters. 

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I did a time or two and failed to keep them within weeks of making them, so I decided it was probably not in my best interest to continue. But I recently made the decision to try something and make a conscious effort to look at the people around me differently. And while I fail to see them as clearly as God sees them, I keep trying. I keep trying not for me, but for Him. It's what He wants me to do because if I could see everyone - if I could look and love everyone as much as I love my child, I would be on the road to understanding how God looks at and loves me. 

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. (Acts 9:17-18)