I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

I have an unusual laugh. Some say it sounds like a machine gun. I’m guessing some find it very annoying. In fact I’m sure of it. I remember coming into a new job. I climbed the stairs looking to find the woman who was going to train me. She was one of the people who had interviewed me. As I approached the office, I heard her say something like, “Wait till you hear her laugh, it’s crazy”. What to do! Should I turn around and walk out? How will I stop myself from crying? Should I walk in as if nothing has happened, when I feel so hurt?

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I chose the last option. Said a little prayer, put a smile on my face and walked in and introduced myself. The words she had said were still lingering in the air. You could see they all realized that I would likely have heard what was said. I prayed again, and the Lord lifted my head. He helped me to get through that first day. Of course I went home and cried, telling my wonderful husband between hyperventilating type breaths how much the people at my new job hated me.

Eventually I became a real part of the office. The people in the room that day came to accept me for who I was. The problem that first day? They didn’t know who I was. To them, I was loud with a funny laugh. I even became friends with the woman who said those things.

The Lord lifts my head high

Embarrassing moments happen all the time (at least to me). Sometimes they don’t even have to happen for me to drop my head in shame. I just think about what might happen and I start to feel down, letting satan get a foothold in my life. I begin to doubt my gifts, abilities and sadly even my Lord.

Avoiding eye contact

When my boys do something wrong, they walk into the room, avoiding eye contact with me looking at the ground. Sometimes they’re even shedding a tear or two. “Look at me”, I’ll say, as I lift their head so our eyes can meet. We talk about what went wrong and how to fix it. Then I look in their eyes, pronounce forgiveness for their sins, and tell them that I love them.

When we do things that are stupid, selfish or sinful, I think we avoid eye contact with the Lord. We start shifting our gaze from Him, because looking at His perfection reminds us how we’ve fallen short. But God doesn’t leave us shifting our eyes from side to side. He lifts our head high so we might look in His eyes and see His love. The love He showed by sending His son to die for us that we might be forgiven of our short comings and sins, and instead of death, spend eternal life with Him.

Keep your eyes on Him

Yes when you look at Him, you may be reminded of your sin, but keep looking, don’t turn away. God wants to tell you how much he loves you.

Are you avoiding eye contact with God?