As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy. Psalm 123:2
Just a look from the master or mistress to the slave is enough for them to know their wishes. These slaves have a long-term relationship with their master and they know their expectations. They no longer need explanations or detailed instructions. Only the slightest signal and they recognise what’s required.
Likewise, when we’ve cultivated a long term relationship with God, we can look to him for the slightest sign. We know his heart’s desire for his people and trust him without the need for explanations. We can look to him in anticipation and expectancy and ask, “What is God doing in this situation?” Our expectancy creates faith and opens the way for God to touch lives.
However, if left to our own solutions, we find they gravitate towards our convenience and comfort. We miss God’s purposes since his goals are much larger than ours. Is God wanting to stretch our faith? Build up our endurance? Increase our capacity? The attraction to easy solutions compromises our ability to discover God’s best plans for us.
Like a slave trained to watch his master, we’re being trained to watch God. We’re looking for signs that he is working in people’s lives and their circumstances. We’re wondering if God’s kingdom is going to break out in their situation. All the while we know that God’s desire is to show mercy.
Let’s develop an attitude that doesn’t presume God will answer our prayers according to our comfort, but rather let’s look to God to see what he wants to achieve.
