"I See You!" - My Father's Delight

It is the deepest ache of our hearts to know we are the beloved child, to know that we are seen and that our Father delights in us....  

My dad has a great memory and has always repeated over and over again the things I said as little boy.  If I was swinging I'm told I would often say, "Look Daddy.  I'm going real up high!"  And before I would leap into his arms out of a tree, from up the stairs, from the side of the pool, never doubting he would catch me, I'm told I would say, "Ready! I jump!"  

I have my own memories of constantly wanting my dad to watch me do this or that.  "Watch me pop a wheelie, Daddy!"  "Watch me do a can-opener, Daddy! Tell me how big a splash I make!"  "Watch how hard I can throw this baseball, Daddy!"  The questions we're wanting answered when we do that is, "Do you see me?  Do you delight in me?  Am I special?  Am I worthy of your attention?"  And there's no greater blessing to a child than to hear a father say in a thousand ways, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!  I see you!  I love you!  I love to be with you!"

     

When you think about the face of your Heavenly Father looking at you, do you picture it lighting up  the sight of you?  Do you experience His pleasure, His delight in you?  I know that can be hard to imagine, especially if you didn't experience that from your earthly father.  We're also very aware of the parts of our live we imagine would be very displeasing to God, and we tend to focus on those things.  And not an insignificant reality is that we have all inherited a nature that doesn't trust God and assumes His heart towards us is bad.

 Have you ever noticed what was God's first item on His to-do list after creating us in His image?  Before there were any instructions or commandments, we are told in Genesis 1, "And God blessed them...."  Now what does that say about His heart towards us?  His greatest desire for us is that we experience His blessing.

To desire to bless someone carries with it some assumptions. It communicates, "I see you.  You stand out to me. You are special to me and have great worth in my eyes."  It is also a covenant word that goes beyond a contractual agreement to exchange goods or services.   It says, "I want you to have this blessing so much I am willing to die, to give my life, to make sure you experience it."  Are you beginning to realize the warmth of God's heart towards you?

A blessing could be defined as a "good word spoken over or into a person's life that carries with it a deep desire and commitment to ensure it comes to pass."  Listen to the blessing that God wanted his priests to speak over His people every day: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)

We have the desire for our daddy's face to light up when he sees us (shine upon us) and the desire for his attention and delight (for him to turn his face towards us) because our Heavenly Father created us to have that desire.  He wants us to experience that from our earthly fathers, and wants us as fathers to extend that blessing to our children.  But ultimately He wants us to experience, and be satisfied, to know His gaze is upon us and that He delights in us.

It has changed my life to realize the blessing spoken over Jesus at His baptism is now spoken over me: "This is my Son whom I love. In Him I am well pleased!"  Having exchanged my life for His life, and my track record for His track record, I can know the Father's delight in me is no less than that experienced by Jesus himself.  The result is the great peace He always wanted me to have.  And He died in order to ensure I received it.

So Daddy, thanks for making it easier for me to realize I am my Father's beloved son by consistently assuring me that I am yours, and for laying your life down for me in a thousand different ways.