Looking that Others may SEE

~ Tracy Frederick

I am a people watcher. I admit it....not in a creepy way, of course, but I admit that I have become fascinated, for some reason, with how many people are walking around with their heads down staring at their phones. I work on a college campus and so, one day while driving to the building where I work,  I was turning onto a street when I noticed a student walking toward the intersection I was about to turn onto. He had his head down reading something on his cell phone. I knew it was going to happen. So, I stopped. I watched while he never slowing down his steady pace and never looked up as he stepped off the curb.....WHAM! He walked right into the side of my car. He hesitated...looked up and around as if confused, finally saw me wave and smile at him from inside the car, put his head back down and walked around me and on down the sidewalk as if it was nothing unusual...maybe, it wasn’t for him. Maybe he walks into cars everyday. So, I began to notice that when people leave buildings, stores, etc...the first thing many do is to take out the phone. I hear often the pitfalls (literally) of failing our Lord- when we do not recognize the snares of Satan. It is a good idea to ponder, but I think that we have also missed another pitfall, the failing to look for the opportunities to glorify our Father and Master.  God tell us through the inspired writer, Paul in Titus 2:11-14 says that “the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”  

I wonder if we are looking, really looking for the opportunities and blessings our Father is offering us every day.  I mean REALLY looking.  I fear that we get caught up in our own worlds, our own facebook, our own...well...stuff.... we fail to SEE, or fail to LOOK for the opportunity let our light shine before others (Matt 5:16) that they may glorify our Father. I mean, that is our purpose right? Perhaps we need some spiritual corrective lenses to help our eyes adjust to our SEEING our world as an opportunity to SHOW our Father’s glory and SEE the opportunity to show Him to others....or perhaps we just need to get our heads up out of our phones, computers...whatever.... and just LOOK around.

I think it comes down to asking ourselves:  are we are LOOKING that others may SEE?