Touching His Face

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

My husband and I brought our first child home during the bitter-cold month of January twelve years ago. I was recovering from a C-section, so the first ten weeks of my baby’s life were a blur of non-stop nursing and doctor’s appointments. The bonding that had started in the womb between Chase and me intensified during those long hours together at home as I watched the snow fly and listened to the wind howl. My mothering instincts kicked into high gear as soon as we brought Chase home. Like many first-time fathers, Rob seemed unsure of his role during those days. He cheerfully helped in any way he could, but I wasn’t sure how much bonding was going on between father and son.

An amazing transformation started happening the older Chase grew. The more active and coordinated he became, the more excited Rob was about interacting with him. One of the most precious memories I have was watching my son put his tiny hands on his daddy’s face. Chase knew that his daddy’s attention was completely on him and he soaked it up like a sponge. Even though Chase could not communicate in words, he responded to his daddy’s voice. Several months later, Chase could use his hands to pull Rob’s face to his mouth to “kiss” (slobber on!) his daddy.

Do you know how we recover in this slumping economy of ours? By humbling ourselves and seeking our heavenly Father’s face. When was the last time our prayers turned His face toward our desperate need? Have we become so worried about our circumstances that we have missed the truth that we are the focus of our Abba’s attention?

Our God is always the God of hope–of second, third, and millionth chances. We can never, no never, run away so long or so far that He cannot rescue us. But our hard hearts rob us of His blessing and the knowledge of how lavish His love is for us. The moment we humble ourselves and pray, we touch our Father’s face and find the forgiveness and healing we crave.

Jesus, You do the supernatural when we obey. You are not bound by the mess we may have made our lives. You show Your incredible strength through our weakness. You will not despise a broken and contrite heart. Reveal Your love for us as we seek to touch Your face through our stance of brokenness and humility before You.