Windows: A Way of Seeing

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After these things I looked,

and behold, a door standing in heaven.

And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet

speaking with me, saying,

"Come up here, and I will show you 
things which must take place after this."

- Revelation 4:1 "




In heaven's eyes, there are no losers.

February started off quite slowly... gradually picking up speed. Without my realizing it, the month will be over in just a few more hours. 

I have asked Abba Father what name to give it. And as I have pondered over the past weeks, one word kept coming up.

Windows.

Here are a few thoughts on my mind as I look back over the twenty-eight days that have graced this chapter of my life story. 

We can go through life with self sitting at the helm, so to speak.

My rules... my standards... my expectations... my agenda.

But life with self at the center neither satisfies nor fulfills. Rather, it hinders growth, blocks forward movement, puts blinders on our eyes, and boxes us in.

We don't really see very far when all we are focused on is self.

An unhealthy preoccupation with self stifles and stunts, very much like a garden that is overfertilized with chemicals and synthetic growth stimulants, resulting in slow death.

God desires to keep the ground of our hearts moist and soft with His life-giving presence.

The past years, God has brought me through a series of painful inner renovation, and gradual change has come, leading me to decide that self-focus is definitely not the road I want to walk on.

I want to live my life as a gift for others. This is one of my unspoken life metaphors.

From one obedient choice after another, the fallow ground of the heart can be cultivated, and trained to be as broken bread and poured out wine for others.

And God brings us out into a broad place, and enlarges the path under our feet. (Psalm 18:19, 36)

And opens before us windows - into His heart, our own heart, and the hearts of others.


Windows in our hearts allow God's revealing light and fresh wind to come in.


This jar is flawed and imperfect in many ways, but the Father lets His light shine through willing albeit broken vessels.

These are the key lessons in my journey: brokenness, humility, obedience, and trust.

I've personally understood how meaningful that is, to be a person in process.

Until we come face to face with our Eternal Creator, brokenness will be a normal part of our earthly sojourns.


And living my life as a gift for others means that my inner and outer lives are one and the same...

Where I allow others to see my weakness, instead of hiding it.

Yet humbly rejoicing in my victories, in my strengths and abilities... and faithfully carrying out the assignments I have been given.

And in all these, offering my heart as a channel of blessing through which God's mercy and compassion flow.


Yes, I love the person I have become and am becoming!  I embrace the process... and daily look forward to the goal.

I am a person in transition... being shaped, and molded, and conformed to Christ's image.

How I allow God to change me in the seasons of my life is the gift I offer.

Others may reject it, but that is not really my problem. There are many others who stand ready to receive.

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To keep the windows of my heart open, being authentic is absolutely necessary.

What I say to someone in his presence, is the same as what I will speak about him behind his back.

Because what I believe in deep inside will eventually show up in my words, actions, and decisions.

There really is no such thing as a double life. I cannot keep what is inside hidden for long. If not in my speech or behavior, it will show up in my face and body language and in the things that I invest my time and money in.

Henri Nouwen puts it so beautifully:

We like to make a distinction between our private and public lives and say, “Whatever I do in my private life is nobody else’s business.” But anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal. What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life. (source)

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, 
but on a stand, 

and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others,

so that they may see your good works 

and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 
- Matthew 5:15

This month God is speaking to me about looking at other people's lives through the window of their own brokenness, imperfection, and pain.

With acceptance, with understanding.

Not with self-righteous judgment.


Windows.

It means letting God's redeeming love be the filter through which I see my world.

Thanks to the lessons from this month, I am reminded of the awesome privilege of seeing people through heaven's eyes...

to listen to people's hearts, more than their words...

to see the inner person beneath the actions...

to discern the gold, not the sand...

to appreciate the treasure beneath the clutter...

to separate identity from behavior...

to believe in the persons they are becoming...

and be amazed by the grace that I find (a line borrowed from Sandi Patty's song).

Then I can gladly accept what others give me of themselves.

How liberating it is to be able to look at life through the window of abundance, not of lack, or disappointment, or even a sickening sense of entitlement.

What a privilege indeed, to be the Father's redemptive agent in the life of anyone that God sends my way.

I arrived in Metro Manila this morning, to spend a few days with my only sister who is in the country for a couple of months.

Today February ends but not before leaving me this precious gift. The gift of perspective.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

Will bring her into the wilderness,

And speak comfort to her.

I will give her her vineyards from there,

And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope...

- Hosea 2:14-15

Two songs for this season of my life:

In Heaven's Eyes

In Christ Alone

The February 2017 chapter of my life... in pictures.