Face It

The other day I was playing with Haley (my 10 month old) on our living room floor. We were playing with a red cowboy hat. I would put it on her, she would rip it off, and then throw it, or try to crawl accross the room with it. Then I would put it on, and she’d try to get it to take it off of me and take off with it again. At one point I laid down and put the hat on to where it covered my face. Haley calmly laid down on her belly and peered underneath the brim of the hat so that she could see my face.

What is it about someone’s face that we need to see, and there’s a distance if we don’t. Television blurs the face of someone that needs to hide their identity. Peek-a-boo is a fun game that makes your kids happy when you show your face. The face of someone reveals something about someone.

Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior (Psalm 27:9 NIV). If you do a quick search “face” appears 34 times in Psalms alone; most in reference God’s face (“don’t hide your face”, “I seek your face”, “make your face shine upon us”, etc.). There is something about the face of God that was important for the Psalmists to want to see.

Whenever I watch an interview with someone trying to keep their identitiy hidden and they have their face blurred, it drives me nuts. I have a tough time even listening to what they’re saying because I’m concentrating so hard on just trying to see their face- I want to see who they are.

Questions for me and you: Am I that concentrated on God? Do I desperately look to find out who God is that nothing else around me even matters, except to find out who God truly is? Am I humble enough to realize what my sin is like in God’sview that I would be concerned about God hiding his face from me?