Wisdom Seeks His Face

Wyndham found something amusing as I was shaving his face last week. I was confused, asking why the laughter, but laughed along with him. He laughed because as I shaved his face, I made all the facial contortions that he would have made had he been shaving himself. I thought about this moment and how it relates to our walk with God. (I know, my mind is weird.) Because I have observed Wyndham and studied his face so long and carefully, I had imitated, without thinking, the expressions he would make.

Likewise, when one becomes familiar with the “face” of Jesus, their actions begin to resemble His; what He would do, and how He would think. To know Jesus, I must carefully consider and meditate on His words so that through His Spirit the eyes of my heart will be enlightened (Eph 1:17-18). When we love Him we want to know Him…His expressions, thoughts, and attitudes so that prayerfully, even without realizing it, we imitate Him. I pray to let what flows from Jesus flow from me. For this to happen, I must continually seek His face.

Seek his face? What does that mean? In the Old Testament, when one even came close to the face of God their face became radiant, too bright to be viewed. God’s face reflected such glory and majesty that it could not be directly viewed; yet, the Scriptures teach us to seek 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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)

  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
  Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (Ps 105:3-4)

So how do we seek God’s face? We look at Jesus. There, we see God’s face.

And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,
and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!   (John 5:37-39 NLT)

We see God face to face when we “hear” Jesus’ voice and “see” his face. To seek Jesus’ face means to seek Him relationally; it doesn’t mean we learn a religious system. Wyndham taught me to seek God’s face; to know Him relationally in a much deeper way.

What does Jesus’ face show? In His face we can see compassion and courage with those who are hurting or lost in idolatry (Mark 10:21). We see the pain in His face as He agonizes over lost Jerusalem (Mt 23:37). We can see His empathy when His face is covered with tears because His friends are hurting over the loss of their brother (Jn 11:33-35). We can see the agony on His face as He knows He must be separated from His Father in order to save us (Mt 26:39). We can see His face emitting forgiveness while He was hanging on the cross (Jn 23:34). We can see His confidence in His disciples as He tells Peter to “feed His sheep” and  tells His disciples to take the gospel to all the world (Jn 21:16-17; Mt 28:18-20). We picture His glowing face as we hear Him give a blessing for His parting words before ascending (Lk 24:50). We see countless other faces of Jesus.

When we consistently, carefully, and considerately seek His face we start imitating His thoughts and moves, even without realizing it, because we are being transformed into His image, from one degree of glory to another. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, our faith will always be strong (Heb 12:1-3). May we continually seek His face, turning our eyes upon Jesus.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Written in 1922 by Helen Lemmel