I remember when my daughter Natalie was born I would hold her in my arms and just gaze at her. I was smitten by how beautiful she was and couldn’t believe this little one was actually mine. And what I noticed about Natalie as a baby, was when I held her, she would stare intently at me. We would have these long staring contests, it was as if she was studying me and trying to figure me out. I actually read in a book once that it is actually normal for baby girls to do this. They will look intently at you, baby girls desire that face time with their parents, it’s as if they’re screaming notice me. Baby boys well that’s a different story, good luck competing with the ceiling fan or other spinning things with blinking lights. But for the most part, babies find love, comfort and stability during face time with mommy or daddy. How about us? Who do we turn to or what do we seek when we are searching for love, comfort, stability in our lives? When our situations in life come against us, who do we fix our eyes on? David, in Psalm 27 mentions how hard pressed he was. David was literally being attacked with hundreds coming against him to wipe him out. But what’s interesting is that he didn’t ask for God to protect him here. It’s interesting that the one thing he asked was to “dwell in the house of the Lord”. The house of the Lord was a place of worship and this is what David was seeking for, to worship Him and later we read in verse 8, his heart’s cry was “to seek His face”! Wow, I don’t know about you but if an army was about to besiege me, the one thing I’d be asking for is not to seek His face, I’d be wanting to seek His hand for help and I definitely wouldn’t want to be thinking about seeking Him to have worship time either. How about you and I? We may not be facing attacks by evil men wanting to destroy us but we do face trying circumstances and trials that can very much feel like they are destroying us. Nothing wrong with praying to God for deliverance but what if instead we redirect our focus from His hand to His face and what if we redirect our heart’s cry from “Lord save me, to Lord I praise you”. Show me your face Lord!”. Let’s not get distracted by the spinning blinking lights of our circumstances, let’s redirect our eyes and hearts on the only thing that matters, a relationship with our daddy. So no matter what season of life we are in, war time or peace time, good times or bad, it doesn’t matter. We will not be shaken because we have a daddy that we can rest safely and securely in His loving arms. Looking to face time with your daddy, don’t have to look far, He’s already looking at you.

Psalm 27:3&4
“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life”,

Psalm 27:8
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”

“Congratulations! You booked it!” Ah the sweet sound of music to any actor’s ears. Especially to mine. Yes, that was me at one time in my life, I had the bug. The acting bug and it made me itch for twenty plus years of my life. I remember the thrill of the pursuit, the endless trips to Kinkos and the Post office to mail out my headshots and resumes, the networking, the acting classes, the showcases, I remember the laughter of an audience, the call backs, and of course the rush of excitement when I finally booked work and the satisfaction of getting paid to do what I loved. But what I also remember was for the little amount of success I had enjoyed, I had to face a ton of more rejections. I hated it when I would prepare so hard and give everything I had to an audition and the person at the other end of the camera or stage would not even acknowledge me or would just blankly stare at me like I was a complete moron. And no actor wants to hear the dreaded words “don’t call us we’ll call you”. Rejection, it sucks! You put your heart out there and someone comes along and stomps on it like it’s nothing. But we all go through it one way or another, whether it’s a job setback, a breakup, divorce, or someone chooses to not friend us on Facebook or comment on our Facebook posts, Ouch that’s got to hurt. But it’s not that we should try and avoid it because we can’t. It’s going to happen to us as long as we venture to take risks, try to love, and well basically just live out this Christian life. We can’t escape it but we can choose how we deal with it. Jesus was faced with the ultimate rejection when He was crucified for our sins but scripture says, “who for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross”. You see, the suffering He had to go through was possible because of the joy He had. He didn’t rejoice about the cross, He wasn’t glad or happy to be beaten and nailed to a tree, who would? He suffered the ultimate rejection of His Father turning His back on Him, “Father why have you forsaken me?” But He was glad about the outcome and He focused on that. He knew that by enduring it, it would provide a way to save you and me and bring us into a relationship with Him forever. He didn’t let bitterness or anger interfere with God’s plan instead He uttered those loving words suffering on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. No instead He was full of joy. Not a happiness but an inner strength, knowing God’s will is best after all. Joy is rejoicing in the Lord for the outcome that is going to lead us in triumph and hope and victory. Jesus had that and He didn’t let His suffering overcome Him, but allowed God’s plan to be fulfilled in His life and in doing so He overcame the situation. For the scripture says, “He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.” There is a win for every believer when we endure the suffering in this life. James reminds us to “Consider it pure joy when you face trials”. Why? Because of the work God is building in our inner character. Our trials may not bring us the results we want but I guarantee you if we give it over to God, and ask Him to reveal His plan for our lives, we will see His way was better after all. Looking back now I definitely see that a lot of those acting jobs I wish I could’ve had, actually could’ve been hurtful to me. I consider it a blessing I didn’t get the jobs. I would’ve been rich and famous but my heart would’ve been so far from Christ and what good is it to “gain the whole world and lose your soul”?  I can see now that His plan was truly best. So how about you, going through a trial today? Whether it’s a rejection or whatever the hardship may be, don’t let it overcome you, overcome it, by allowing God’s way to be fulfilled. Let His joy be your strength that propels you to the outcome God has and that will always be a place of hope and victory. The world may discard us with a “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”, but God will always invite you to call backs for His auditions. He’s got a role for everyone including you and remember when He’s directing the show there are no small parts.

Hebrews 12:2
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

If you are like me, whenever there is the latest epic movie of good verses evil in the theaters, I’m there. If it’s a movie that I feel won’t compromise my values, that has a great story, interesting characters and of course some good old fashioned action, count me in. Just give me my large popcorn and my large cherry slushee and I’m good to go. One of my favorites of course is the Star Wars franchise. I always get excited when the latest one comes up. No, I’m not one of those who camps out in front of the theater on opening weekend in my sleeping bag and Darth Vader pajamas! Please, are you kidding me? That would be ridiculous. No, I’ve got some decency. I wear Luke Skywalker pajamas. Come on, you actually think I’d wear pajamas that represent the dark side? Anyway, speaking of the dark side, when you watch these movies, there is always a moment usually in the beginning of the third Act, where it seems that the dark side, or the bad guys are closing in. It seems like all is lost and hopeless for the good guys as evil reigns supreme. And we sit on the edge of our seats wondering, how will the good guys bounce back? Is there any hope for survival? And of course, when it seems like there is no way out, enter the hero, the Luke Skywalker who steps in at the right time and saves the day, defeating evil and rescuing the planet from destruction in the nick of time. We then leave the theater feeling all is right with the world, forgetting when just a moment ago, we were entrenched in fear, screaming at the screen in panic mode thinking, this is not going to end well. You know, sometimes in life we can get this way too. We can feel so overwhelmed by all the evil in this world that we start to feel things are so hopeless that we forget there is a happy ending coming to this story. We watch the news and see a country so divided, from race riots, to school shootings, to the latest terrorist attack. Evil seems to get the upper hand. Maybe in our personal lives we’re seeing the effects of sin and evil permeating our marriages and destroying our families and we find ourselves on the edge of our seats hoping this nightmare would just be over. Perhaps for you it’s gotten so bad that you want to withdraw from friends and those who love you and just close out the world just to escape the pain. But my friends, remember who the storyteller is, He is on our side. I was reading in Revelations where John is on the island of Patmos and he has these dreams about the final days on earth. He has visions of Satan, the Anti-Christ and his minions permeating their evil agenda across the globe and it looks hopeless, it looks bad. In chapter 5, he sees God the father holding in His hand the seven sealed scrolls. Inside them is written God’s ultimate plan to bring justice for God’s people but no one was found worthy to open the scrolls. No one and John began to weep with great sorrow in his heart, feeling overwhelmed that all was lost. But an elder tapped his shoulder and gently reminded him that there is one and His name is the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain, Jesus Christ. And Jesus came forward and took the scrolls and opened them and everyone began to worship proclaiming His rule and reign over the earth. What an amazing encouragement this is for us, that when it seems like evil has the upper hand in our world and in our personal lives, let’s remember to cling to the hope and victory we will one day share when our Savior returns to us. I love the fact that He is called both the Lion and the Lamb. The significance of Him being our Lamb is that hope and victory can be recieved today because He has already defeated Satan on the cross and the importance of Him as the Lion means there is a final and lasting hope for tomorrow that we can look forward to.  Do you find yourself on the edge of your seat because the Empire has struck back? Remember, God’s the one who holds the scrolls in His hands. He wrote the script and in this story, we are the good guys and the return of our Jedi has a name, His name is Jesus, the Lion of Judah, and He is coming back to settle the score once and for all. So, what are you waiting for? Turn off the cell phone, pop some corn, sit back, relax and enjoy the coming attractions.

Revelation 5:9-10

And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”