Looking.
Seeing.
Recently the difference between these two ideas that seem so similar, hit me hard.
Last weekend as I prepared for the Hope Overflows event where our church would participate in writing letters to children in Ghana who need sponsors, I had a very meaningful conversation.
You see, usually when I display pictures of my friends in Ghana whom I am trying to keep in school, I get questions and comments like this:
“So, how do I know the money is going to get to the child?”
“Which schools will these children go to?”
“How does the online giving work?”
And really, I don’t mind answering these questions. They are important.
But last week as I was preparing for the card making event, a special friend came by and began to look at the pictures.
“Look at the children. There are so many needs. Each of these children is unique. Each of these children is real. Each of these children has a story. There are so many that need sponsorship.”
Her words resonated with me because this time someone was speaking to me what is in my heart. She wasn’t just looking at the pictures, she was “seeing” them. In their big, brown, eyes she was seeing dreams, and pain, and hopes, and joy, and disappointment, and needs. She was truly “seeing” not just a wall of pictures, but individual human beings.
It made me think; do I really “see” people? Do I see them as created by God in His image? No matter what their situation, do I see them as someone whom Jesus died for?
So often my life (as much as I hate to admit it), revolves around me. As I run errands and accomplish tasks, I brush people off with my quick “hi”, or my avoided glance just so I can do what I want to do. Too often in the midst of programs and ministries and tasks, I focus on what needs to be done, not realizing who it is actually being done for.
I Samuel 16:7 “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Or could we say “the Lord ‘sees’ the heart”?
I’m praying today that God will truly open my eyes to “see” the way He sees, that my vision will not be an outward vision but a true vision of the hearts of the people He has created in His image.
Jesus, help me to SEE!