God Looks Into the Heart
/“Not as people see does God see, because people see the appearance but God looks into the heart.”
This is so relevant that it kind of takes my breath away. I often see only appearances. There are just so many illusions that I buy into. However, my call is to see as God does – beneath appearances into the heart of things.
It seems like these days people are obsessed with appearances. Advertising images are all around us, and we even seek out more images on social media. The trouble is not the images themselves but that I tend to believe in these images. In reality, though, most of what I see is curated, an illusion. It looks so real, so perfect, and yet, it has no heart to it. The reality is that no one is perfect and there’s no such thing as a perfect life. We all have struggles, doubts, fears, and loneliness. I can stay up to date with people on Facebook or Instagram and learn a few life hacks from reels, but there’s nothing in there that shows me the heart of people. Or myself. Or God. Social media gives the impression of connection, but it really only scratches the surface. What connects us is not a posted image but what we share from our hearts.
Besides images and the assumptions I make about other people’s lives, what can be illusory is what’s in my own heart. I don’t know why it’s easy for me to be out of touch with my own thoughts and feelings, but it is. Is that true for you too? For me, it’s probably because I want to avoid hard emotions like sorrow, loneliness, anger, or dismay. However, when I’m out of touch with those feelings, I’m also disconnected from feelings of joy, connection, and contentment.
Also, when I’m out of touch with myself, I’m out of touch with God. Thoughts and feelings are a means by which God communicates and connects with me. God sees into my heart, as Scripture says, and when I go into my own heart, I meet God there. My emotions tell me a lot about what’s going on in my life. Am I angry? Well, then maybe God is calling me to act, to have a conversation with someone or, in the case of righteous anger, to advocate for a cause or a person. Am I discontented or sad? Maybe God is calling me to make a change or to see if there’s an unmet need within me that’s crying out for attention. Am I disappointed? Maybe something is out of alignment between my expectations and what’s real. So, do I need to adjust my expectations? Do I need to adjust something else? Or, do I simply need to acknowledge that what I’m longing for is just not yet. Loneliness is an emotions with a certain twinge of longing to it, and when I feel that, there’s often an invitation to connect with another person. Sometimes it’s a call to connect with God and maybe to notice how God is longing for me too.
As we look inward, we may understand why we feel a certain way, but sometimes we may not. Sometimes feelings have a reason, but sometimes they just are what they are. As humans, we tend to want to know the “why” of things, don’t we? Besides wondering about our feelings, we wonder why things happen the way they do. We tend to look for cause and effect. If this happened because of this, then I can control it if I do or don’t do that. However, life doesn’t always have a cause and effect. Things just happen. And God sees into our hearts and knows the why of things that we can’t know. We encounter that in the gospel about the man born blind. Why was he born that way? And why can he see now? Is it because of sin? The religious authorities weigh in about the why of that situation, and there’s a lot of blaming, accusing, and trying to diminish Jesus. They fail to see beyond appearances, and so they’re blind to the presence of God. Jesus says that the man’s blindness is not because of sin but so that “the works of God might be made visible through him” (Jn 9:3). For people who are receptive to what Jesus shows them, God is revealed in the blind man’s new vision. It’s all in how they choose to see the situation.
I want to be someone who sees as God does, who sees beyond appearances to the heart of things, including my own heart, even if I don’t know why circumstances are the way they are. Blaming, accusing, and diminishing, as well as assuming, do not help me to notice God’s presence. It’s not necessarily about why something’s happening but about how I recognize God working within my life. It’s about discerning how God is calling me to respond.
There are plenty of things in life over which I have no control. I can look for a cause and effect. I can wrestle until I understand, or think I do. And I probably will wrestle! However, I’m not sure that will get me to the heart of the matter. What will get me to the heart of the matter? Recognizing God’s presence within my own heart and the hearts of other people too. We don’t know what’s in the heart of another person unless they share it. Others don’t know what’s in my heart unless I tell them. When we share from the heart, we build deep, real, intimate connections. We grow closer to other people, and somehow God is there too, drawing us to each other and drawing us to God.
“Not as people see does God see, because people see the appearance but God looks into the heart.” May we learn to see as God sees. Amen.
For Reflection
How does the constant bombardment of images affect you?
Do you take time to reflect on what’s going on in your own heart, to check in on your thoughts and feelings? What’s that like, and where is God in that reflection?
What’s in your heart right now? Maybe you could just take a few moments to enter in and see what’s there. Maybe God has something to show you about yourself or about God.
By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP
Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Board of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, and seeking God in all things.