I read a quote the other day that caught my attention. It made me feel like I need to do more than take the time to look. I need to take the time to see.

“Stare at the glory of God until you see it.” -Ray Ortlund

It is easy to catch our attention, but it is harder to keep our attention. The proliferation of screens and information at our fingertips connect us in ways previous generations could not have imagined, yet it seems to have made our view smaller, our situation feel more isolated.

We need a bigger view of God, and beholding His beauty is a wonderful way to get there. When we have our head in our hands and are sulking about our own problems and situation in life, our view of God can become disproportionately small. But when we lift our eyes up unto the hills from whence cometh our help…then we see the greatness and majesty of God’s glory and we can understand how the apostle Paul can call the trials and turmoil of this world “light and momentary troubles.”

No matter how hard of a day I have had or how complicated or unfair the problems I encounter seem, whenever I’m walking home from clinic and I look up at the stars, I do not wallow, I worship. That is one good thing about living in a community without a power grid. The stars shine bright. The Heavens declare the glory of the Lord. When my mouth is agape, gazing at the constellations above, I never think, “How can the God of the Universe not see what a mess I’m in?” No, I simply stare in awe and wonder.

I think it is important that we wonder so that we don’t wander.

Marvel at creation. Marvel at the Gospel. Marvel at His love. Don’t “marvel” at our own problems and pain.

Robert Murray McCheyne famously said, “For every look at self-take ten looks at Christ! Live near to Jesus-and all things will appear little to you in comparison with eternal realities. How many millions of dazzling pearls and gems are at this moment hidden in the deep recesses of the ocean caves? Likewise, unfathomable oceans of grace are in Christ for you. Dive and dive again-you will never come to the bottom of those depths.”

Christ is worth our attention and the Gospel is worth savoring, not because it tightens up our lives and makes us walk a straighter path, but because it is the oxygen we need to live and move and have our being in this world.

God, give us a hunger and to thirst after You in such a way that we are willing to spend our time sitting quietly, distracted by nothing but attempting to fathom the unfathomable.