Our church has one of the best tour guides when we go to Israel. Amir is a born-again Jew with a love for the Lord, the scriptures, and his native country. He has a fairly good singing voice and would often break out into Hebrew worship. I never sensed it was out of pride, just spontaneous love. The last time I was able to go to Israel, we were making our way through the lush, rolling hills of the upper Galilee during the poppy covered spring, and he stood in the bus with his convex chest and out-stretched arms rhetorically asking, "Isn't God's country the most beautiful place in the world?!"
Years as a tour guide helped him to know every mile of this nation and its history better than I know my own neighborhood. On a different day of the tour, we began to approach a military checkpoint and I saw Amir close his cellphone, stand with a creased forehead, down-turned eyebrows and give us detailed instructions of "do's and don't's". As the bus rolled to a stop, we were boarded by several armed soldiers who began to examine us and our bus thoroughly. My eyes were not on my husband...
They were glued to Amir. He knew the land, the people, the language, the dangers, served in the IDF (their military), and he'd just received current information that no one else had but him. We safely proceeded and Amir told a few of us later that he'd received a heightened security alert from the military and extra precautionary measures were being taken.
The scripture on my coffee cup this morning was Ps 32:8 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." If I count on a tour guide for guidance, wisdom, direction and protection in a foreign country like Israel, how much MORE do I need to depend on the Lord in this country that is not my home? Our heavenly Father knows this worlds history current events and future. He has a relationship to the land as its Creator, sustainer, counter of its grains, and waterer of its flowers and grass blades. He knows the beauty of His creation that He'll draw our attention to often and He knows the precautions we need to take in its pitfalls and danger zones. He also knows every occupant in the land-their thoughts before they think them and the plans that are devised in every heart.
Jesus is such a wonderful guide for us that He's known as our Good Shepherd. He's promised to instruct, teach and guide us, but one thing is needful. "...I will guide thee with My eye", says the Lord. Eye contact is a prerequisite. In this particular verse, it's not His mouth or speech, but He invites us to look at Him. I know the difference between talking "at" Him and talking "with" Him. The difference is in my love level. He knows that if there is love in a heart, there will be eyes that long to look into the eyes of the one that heart adores. It's why He tells us, Ps 33:18 "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy." Ps 34:15 "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous". He loves us with a depth that defies description or understanding, but true nonetheless.
May the eyes of your heart stay more fixed on the Lord's never-closed nor diverted eyes than I did Amir during our brief tour.
Years as a tour guide helped him to know every mile of this nation and its history better than I know my own neighborhood. On a different day of the tour, we began to approach a military checkpoint and I saw Amir close his cellphone, stand with a creased forehead, down-turned eyebrows and give us detailed instructions of "do's and don't's". As the bus rolled to a stop, we were boarded by several armed soldiers who began to examine us and our bus thoroughly. My eyes were not on my husband...
They were glued to Amir. He knew the land, the people, the language, the dangers, served in the IDF (their military), and he'd just received current information that no one else had but him. We safely proceeded and Amir told a few of us later that he'd received a heightened security alert from the military and extra precautionary measures were being taken.
The scripture on my coffee cup this morning was Ps 32:8 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." If I count on a tour guide for guidance, wisdom, direction and protection in a foreign country like Israel, how much MORE do I need to depend on the Lord in this country that is not my home? Our heavenly Father knows this worlds history current events and future. He has a relationship to the land as its Creator, sustainer, counter of its grains, and waterer of its flowers and grass blades. He knows the beauty of His creation that He'll draw our attention to often and He knows the precautions we need to take in its pitfalls and danger zones. He also knows every occupant in the land-their thoughts before they think them and the plans that are devised in every heart.
Jesus is such a wonderful guide for us that He's known as our Good Shepherd. He's promised to instruct, teach and guide us, but one thing is needful. "...I will guide thee with My eye", says the Lord. Eye contact is a prerequisite. In this particular verse, it's not His mouth or speech, but He invites us to look at Him. I know the difference between talking "at" Him and talking "with" Him. The difference is in my love level. He knows that if there is love in a heart, there will be eyes that long to look into the eyes of the one that heart adores. It's why He tells us, Ps 33:18 "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy." Ps 34:15 "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous". He loves us with a depth that defies description or understanding, but true nonetheless.
May the eyes of your heart stay more fixed on the Lord's never-closed nor diverted eyes than I did Amir during our brief tour.
