Help me to see me
The way you see me
Sometimes I see pain, Lord
When you see victory
I see where I am, Lord
You see where I shall be
Open my eyes, help me believe
I am what you see
I Am What You See, led by William Murphy
Do you have pull-through albums? I’m talking about those anointed projects that serve as lights in the darkness, compilations of songs that speak to your soul during the heaviest of times. Bishop Paul Morton’s Cry Your Last Tear album is in my Top 3. From 2008 until now, it has faithfully served as a spiritual defibrillator when I need to be shocked back to remembrance of who God is and who I am in Him.
Imagine my surprise when the shock of conviction hit my heart as Holy Spirit brought the lyrics of Track 7 to remembrance earlier this week. The problem wasn’t actually seeing myself incorrectly.
CORRECTION CAME FROM NOT SEEING OTHERS
AS GOD SEES THEM
Yeah, that one stung a little bit. Did you clutch your pearls, too? Maybe I’m not alone in wrapping myself in the reassurance of “Behold, all things are made new,” while struggling, forgetting, or refusing to see others beyond their filthy rags.
But plenty of people have called out my name in the Secret Place.
Someone has boldly taken their concern for you before the throne of grace.
Individuals, known and unknown, have prayed for us with tears streaming down their faces.
And they continue doing so because we have yet to “arrive.” We are works in progress who aren’t where we are in life (naturally or spiritually) by our merit alone.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
By grace we are saved. By grace and the effectual, fervent prayers of the saints, we go from glory to glory.
SELFISH VISION IS WASTED VISION
Self-centric vision is evidence that pride has slithered into our quiet time with messages of hopelessness. It’s not that we believe we are hopeless or that our situation won’t divinely encounter a suddenly. Oh, no, no. We believe we are clothed in righteousness and pursued by goodness and mercy! The problem is we cling to the belief that he/she/they are hopeless.
A lost cause.
Unworthy of our intercession.
We rejoice in our now and look forward to the future with expectation while selectively forgetting the previous unrefined versions of ourselves.
The love of God flowing through His children compels them and continues compelling them to intercede for us. They stand in the gap to war against our shortcomings and to contend for our breakthroughs and the need for a deeper revelation of mercy.
Will we refuse to do the same for others?
Glasses and contact lenses correct nearsightedness and farsightedness. However, humility is the remedy for shortsightedness. Sanctified vision equips us to see that people are more than their current state. A good memory humbly reminds us of our unredeemed selves, not for the sake of condemnation but to ensure that compassion abounds. Who someone is at the moment isn’t who they always have to be. The chains of right now can be broken!
Gideon moved beyond cowering in a wine press.
Elizabeth broke through the barriers of biology to birth John the Baptist.
Paul awakened to the truth of the Risen One and laid down his murderous ways to become a minister of the Gospel.
You are more than able
You are more than able
You are more than able
You are more than able
Who am I to deny what the Lord can do?
More Than Able x Elevation Worship feat. Chandler Moore & Tiffany Hudson
Who are we to deny what the Lord can do
in the lives of others?
I am eternally grateful for those who didn’t count me out when I spewed truth void of grace and leaned toward judgmentalism.
I am thankful for the ones who held up my arms in the spirit when hope became too heavy and for those who allowed me to feel grief while earnestly praying for me to not become its prey.
I thank God for the many who simultaneously see where I am and where I shall be in the months, years, and decades to come. They stitch those visions together with intercession. Their prayers fuel me forward.
Surely, you have testimony after testimony of how the Love-led prayers of others altered the course of your life.
Let us commit to doing for others what countless souls have done for us.
Our willingness to stand in the gap for frustrated men, burdened women, deprived children, and the forgotten elderly shifts them beyond their current circumstances and limiting beliefs to a personal revelation of, “Behold, I AM MADE NEW!”
Lord Jesus, our High Priest, You are more than able, and we are humbly willing to bathe Your image-bearers in prayer.
Sincerely,
LaToya NaShae