Seeing Jesus face to face:

Have you ever felt out of synch with the world around you?  Ever felt like everyone else is moving faster than you and life is leaving you behind?

I had one of those moments last week.  At work we had a Day of Prayer where we focused on what was keeping us from meeting/seeing Jesus face to face.  While we were singing some worship songs God put a picture in my head that grabbed my attention and would not let go.

Have you ever seen a movie where a character is standing on a busy sidewalk and they speed up time so that all the people/cars around them are a blur?  That is the picture God gave me.

I was standing still on a busy sidewalk and everyone around me was a blur of movement.  I then stepped up onto a bench to see if I could see an end to the mass, or a way out of it, but there was none.  As I was pondering this I realized this is how I do life sometimes.  I get caught in the flow of life (its business) and then I realize what I am doing, look up, and search for a way out. 


While we were worshipping, I felt Jesus telling me, "James, you are looking for the wrong thing."  


I realized there was no way out of the blurry mass of people.  At least, not on my own.  But with Jesus there is.  So I started looking around for Him.  Then, suddenly, Jesus stepped out of the blurry mass up onto the bench with me and wrapped me in His arms.  At this point I no longer cared about the blur around me.  All that mattered was that Jesus was there and was protecting me from being swept away.

I have found recently that one thing that keeps me from seeing Jesus face to face is my tendency to get caught in the flow of life.  But all I have to do is stop, look around for Jesus, and start walking with Him again.