"Crosseyed?"

Occasionally my path intersects with that of others who, very carefully and cautiously, confide that they really want to experience more of God in their lives.  Perhaps you yourself have met folks who have an almost “haunted” look in their eyes as they share their deep hunger for having a greater sense of God’s presence.  Perhaps they have even indicated to you that they have a great longing to know that God is working in and through them.

Of course, it is a miracle for any of us to become drawn sufficiently out of our satisfaction with the hum-drum run of "life-as-usual" here on planet Earth.  No matter how often we think we see it happening to others, when we recall that we ourselves are living miracles in that God has given us a desire to know Him, we really ought to celebrate the awesome wonder of watching that same amazing grace take hold of another person's heart.  It should always amaze us when someone shares this kind of desire and a thrill should always be running through us as we remember Jesus’ words in John 6:44, that “No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him….” 

When we see someone beginning to wrestle with this “hunger for more of God", we know that something profound is going on; we know that something supernatural is taking place; and we know that God is on the move as He cultivates something fresh in the life of this fellow human being which will take the "clay pot" which is their body and fill it with spiritual treasure! 

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV). 

It is not human nature to run after God, of course.  Human nature, by definition, drives us to live on a purely human level.  But God created us with grander themes in mind than for us to live our short lives only to perish into the dust, dragging all our potential down with us. 

Instead of our withering into the despair of everlasting meaninglessness, He extends to us through Jesus Christ something that sounds much too good to be true, since it is so foreign to our normal patterns of thinking and is, in fact, quite contrary to the messages with which we are constantly bombarded from our world.  In 2 Peter 1:3-4 He sets before us a great banquet of spiritual provision when He says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 

Isn't this wonderful?  Jesus is the One “Who calls you by His own glory and goodness” and He will give you, if you’ll trust Him, His very great and precious promises!  As He calls you to KNOW Him (which, as that passage says, is how one taps into “everything one needs for life and godliness”), He also extends to you an invitation to become a partaker in His own divine nature and escape the bondage of just living in your “human nature”! 

A lot of the time, instead of looking at the great mural of wonder and hope that God spreads out before us, telling us the story of His enduring faithfulness from before the beginning of time, we get caught up in the pressures of worldly priorities or get counsel from worldly sources which entices us to trust our wisdom and strength, forgoing God's promises.  We naturally get our eyes fixed on the proverbial tips of our proverbial noses by focusing on our temporary circumstances, the material possessions of others, or a variety of things which (from God's eternal perspective) do not matter that much.  This leaves us, in a way, spiritually cross-eyed (in a bad sense).  And let us not forget those timeless words of wisdom that so many loving (and tactful) parents have often shared with their children as they grow up, “What’s the matter with you?  You want your eyes to get stuck that way?” 

But is there a "good" way to be "cross-eyed"?  Yes, if we mean that we view life (with its burdens, snares, victories and rewards) through the lens of Jesus' cross.  The cross of Jesus Christ is the one place where our fears and frustrations can be completely eradicated as we there see God conquer our sin and then death itself by raising His Son three days later. 

The cross of Christ is the answer to our need for salvation as Jesus bore a penalty that we could not survive (spiritually) although He did not deserve it.  The cross is also the proof of a love so perfect and so divine that the world could not receive it (John 1:10-11).  Therefore, to be "cross-eyed" (in this good sense) is to see life from the position of a victorious child of God that poverty cannot overwhelm, disease cannot defeat, rejection does not thwart, and hatred does not vanquish because her sin has been forgiven and God the Father holds her in His hand forever.  Even death holds no fear for her because she knows that even if her body should fail, she still has eternal life with God. 

Maybe you have suffered from being “spiritually cross-eyed” in the wrong way, by keeping your eyes on your circumstances and your immediate priorities.  Maybe God is now giving you some of His perspective on your life and His love for you. 

Perhaps, as He shows you how deeply and eternally He loves you by pointing you to the cross on which His Son died, He has stirred up a new kind of feeling in you, a feeling of restlessness that you are not quite sure how to address.  In case you wondered, a feeling of dissatisfaction is not necessarily a bad thing:  it might well be God’s way of cultivating a deeper level of spiritual hunger in you.  Such a feeling could be what prepares you to really start seeing how incredible His love is as He draws your eyes to the cross of His Son.  God passionately desires that you take your sights off what you once thought would satisfy you and “lock on” to Him. 

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2). 

(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past 14 ½  years and is the  author of The Fairy Tale Parables:  Classic Fairy Tales Pointing to God's Love and Truth.  He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).