Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
In his book Wild At Heart, John Eldredge said, “…the reason most men live lives of quiet desperation is because men have been told that the reason God put them on earth is to be a good boy. To be nice.” There is more in God’s heart for men and women than to simply ‘be good or nice’. God puts a yearning within our hearts to live intentionally and purposefully, to make sure that our lives count for something, for someone. Several years ago that desire drove me to go beyond where I had been spiritually. It has been a real fruitful journey. However, recently I have sensed a fresh stirring in my heart for more of what He created my life to be like.
The first stirring began with a question, “Where are you?” I have discovered answering that question can lead to more healing and restoration or more frustration. It depends on how you see and relate to the Father. In answering the question I heard Him ask me another question, “What do you seek?” Jesus asked a couple of John’s disciples that question and I always felt the answer they gave was not very profound, “Where are you staying?” (John 1:38), however it opened a door into His world for them. Jesus told them, “Come and see.” This changed their lives forever. So answering these questions are vital for all of us.
I find it fascinating that the key to answering the question came from what John said moments earlier about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) When the Bible speaks of the Lamb it is talking about the Passover Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, it is talking about the blood of Christ, the sufferings of Christ and the glory of Christ (Rev. 5). Unbeknownst to me, as God the Father began to ask me these questions He began to bring me back to the Cross. Beholding the Lamb will change you. It is the way into the spiritual realm.
When translated, the Greek word for ‘behold’ in this verse carries a few different ideas with it. It means ‘to perceive, or take notice’, ‘to turn the eyes, the mind, the attention to something’, ‘to inspect, examine, gain knowledge of’, and ‘to have regard for and cherish’. John was saying to his two disciples, “Turn your eyes upon the Lamb of God! Perceive and understand that He is the Passover Lamb, the disfigured bloody Lamb. Cherish and embrace Him.”
The fresh desire for more of what He created my life to be like was actually sown in my heart in a very dark moment last summer. The Chief of Police allowed me to sit on his car just outside of Matt and Angel’s home. It seemed that the hordes of hell had come like a whirlwind and were feasting on me (Hab. 3:14) as I tried to make sense as to why Matt’s murdered body lay inside. It was there that I first caught a glimpse of the slain Lamb. It was not a beautiful sight; in fact, He had forewarned me to not turn my face away as my natural man would instinctively turn from the sight. He wanted me to behold Him, to focus my attention on Him and see Him as a slain Lamb. It was there that I personally saw that, “His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Isaiah 52:14
A seed was planted in my heart in that dark moment and the Father has carefully guarded, watered and cared for it since then. Last month while I was in Argentina I had a very vivid and powerful vision. I saw Jesus on the cross dying and crying out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). At that moment I knew the answer to the most difficult question that we will ever ask God – why?
Sometimes in our darkest moments God does His greatest works. He has not left us or abandoned us; the Lamb suffered that for us. In fact, I believe He is now inviting us into His world, to know and see Him, as we never have. I hear Him saying, “Come and see.”
Many Blessings, BW