Seek His Face - What Does It Mean?

What does it mean to seek His face? How we approach God during our quiet times, prayers and so on will depend on what we understand seeking His face to mean. And I think it also depends on what we understand God to be, as revealed through the Bible.

Think seeking His face means the following things to me:

1. That God is not a faceless Being. Not a Faceless One. Which reminds us that He is a Person. So we can communicate to Him like we communicate with a fellow human being.

2. That we can look to Him to make us feel secure. Like how a baby cries if it can't see its parents' faces, but smiles if it sees.

3. That we constantly look to Him for His approval... not merely a legal approval, but an emotional approval. Like how a boy will keep on looking at his father's face when doing something. He does it to see if his dad is smiling or frowning - whether he is pleased or dissatisfied with his son. Think that's how I should also keep looking to God for my source of approval. Emotional approval especially. Fathers have this unique power to influence and mold their sons just by the countenance of their faces. That's one reason fatherlessness can be such a devastating epidemic, with lost boys trying to seek fatherly faces that will approve - even if it is a bad one.

4. That we can't be looking anywhere else if our eyes are locked upon the other person's face. Lovers have eyes for only one another. No other face is more important than the face of their beloved. No other gods but Yahweh, the one true God.

5. That we remind ourselves of His true identity. To make sure that we are not looking at the wrong person. Ever have one of those embarrassing experiences where you playfully grabbed a friend from behind to surprise him/her... only to find that you grabbed a stranger? :)

And seeking His face also protects us from counterfeit experiences. Like how... a guy might think a girl looks really beautiful from the back... only to find from the front that the person is actually...*ahem* a 'pirated version'. :P Guys, I think you know what I mean! (Sorry if this offended anyone!)

6. That we remember that God really is beautiful beyond description. Like how the psalmist longed to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord in Psalm 27:4.

But what does beauty mean here? I think it's the character of God, Gos attributes, His compassion & grace, His strength, His power, His humility...

And it's so important for us who love Him to remember how beautiful the invisible God is. Because we, being away from home, tend to forget. And when one sees the beauty of the Lord anew, his heart is recharged and renewed.

Like how the old hymn goes:
"In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in His bosom
That transfigures you and me
As He died to make men holy
Let us live to make men free"

And when we have seen the beauty of the Lord afresh, whether it be in our own lives, others' lives, or creation... we are more eager again to tell others about Jesus! :) Ever seen a beautiful rainbow and ran to tell others to see it? That's the same with Jesus!

I think there's really so much more about this wonderful phrase... But I write so much, and I am only a child...

How about you, dear bro/sis? Any thoughts to share?

Yeu Ann

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