The other day, our pastor made a statement that struck a deep cord within. He said,
“Your face reflects what you are facing.” He went on to say that if the eyes are windows to the soul, then our face must be the doorway. Love it. It reminded me of the face of Moses when he came down from the mountaintop after meeting with the Lord. He made the long trek to the mountain’s peak in order to meet face to face with God, to seek His will, His wisdom and His ways…and when Moses finally came down, he was completely unaware that his face was radiant with the peace and glorious presence of Almighty God. Exodus 34:29 The radiant peace and presence was not contrived by Moses’s sheer will to work out the problem before him…it was simply a result of humbly placing himself at the feet of God the Father to receive all that His Father would offer. I sometimes wonder what was going on in Moses’s heart as he arrived to the mountain’s peak, exhausted from the long trek. Maybe he turned around and looked long and hard at the valley filled with the countless number of the sons and daughters of Israel. Then, with his back turned to the Father, he breathlessly proclaims, “Lord! I am exhausted! You cannot imagine how stubborn are the hearts of your people! 😬The position you have placed me in is beyond bearable - I do not have the strength, the wisdom and the where-with-all to oversee the multitudes of people at the foot of the mountain! Circumstances are hard and I just don’t know what to do!!!” I then picture the Father, grasping Moses’s chin, turning the face of his servant from the problems of the valley to the magnificent, radiant face of the Father on the mountaintop. Patiently, the Father locks eyes with Moses and replies with this: “Exactly, my son. That is the point…” I don’t know about you, but It is so easy for me to face the valley of troubles that present themselves before me and I immediately begin to pull up the figurative bootstraps, trying to research and plan my way out of it, forgetting Whose I am, a daughter of the King, and that He has and will continue to fully equip me to carry out His calling on my life - as wife, mother, daughter, counselor, cook, cleaner… On so many occasions, I awaken and begin to ponder the day ahead…all that is before me, so much that is out of my hands. I essentially remain in the valley of trouble, facing circumstantial evidence that causes me to shake in my shoes, and my face slowly begins to reflect the difficulties before me - in essence, I allow the difficulties to tempt me to become difficult. Impatience nestles up beside me, fear begins to enshroud me, and suddenly the darkness in my heart creeps up to my face, which unbeknownst to me, has become withdrawn, dark and downcast. Talk about exhausting! Not only are the circumstances burdensome, but now I’ve allowed the circumstantial evidence before me become the only foundation on which to place my mind, will and emotions. Yikes! And yet, I have also found time and again that if I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to make what seems like a painstaking trek to the mountaintop by creating the time and space in my day to approach the Father for some FaceTime, I suddenly find my heart infiltrated with His comfort and love, and, almost imperceptibly, my face becomes radiant with His peace, His love and His glory. Just like the picture of Moses on the mountaintop with God the Father, I picture the Father grasping my chin, locking His gaze with mine, and gently whispering this, “My daughter, when you fix your gaze on the valley of problems before you, your heart is darkened and your face becomes downcast. Self sufficiency allows no room for my radiant glory. And yet when you choose to make a way to the mountaintop with Me, even though nothing may change in your circumstances, everything changes within your heart, and just like Moses, your face will become radiant with My peace, with My Presence, and with My glory…” The tenderness of that visual almost makes me teary. Oh, that I would follow when the Holy Spirit gently nudges me to fix my gaze on the heavenly Presence of the Father when the things of this earth begin to falter and fail. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on you because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3