“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
–Numbers 6:24–26
In Novo we know how important blessing is. I love the power of this blessing found in Numbers.
I especially love the part about the Lord‘s face; it is shining upon us, him turning his countenance toward us. It makes me think of the power of smile and what eye contact does to create connection.
This idea of smiling and making eye contact and face shining reminds me of when I was in the early years of parenting. Those years were full of training and discipline. One of the many parenting books I read at that time talked about building relational ties, small strings of connection, with our children. The book advised to simply smile at our kids, and I took this to heart.
So, no matter how hard the day was, or how much correction, direction, and discipline I needed to administer, I always tried to remember to smile and to make eye contact with my kids. For my face to shine upon their face, for my countenance to turn lovingly toward them.
For one thing, practicing smiling at them helped me remember that I like my kids! It often shifted my mood from grumpy mom (you know that mom look) to delight. When I look back, I can’t help but think that was one of the most important things I did as a young mom; I smiled at my kids. Now that they are grown adults the fruit of the relational ties built from their childhood is evident in the friendship we share. This is a sharp contrast to many of my friends who are struggling in relationship with their young adult children.
Smiling seems simple, but its impact is profound.
There’s something simple and profound about God’s face shining upon us. Him, turning his countenance toward us. The relational ties and connection this builds does something deep, deep within our souls. I can’t help but think that as we experience that connection with God, we can share that connection with others through a smile. When we smile at someone and turn our face toward someone, God is smiling and turning his face toward that person through us.
A recent example in my life of this is a young girl who has started coming into Heritage Coffeehouse. I spoke with her the other day to let her know she couldn’t ask people for money or to use their phones. But, we would be happy to get to know her and to be her friend; she could use our phone if the need arose. During this conversation she was so angry. No matter what I said or how kind my tone, her response was anger. But, I kept smiling at her, I kept making eye contact with her, I kept speaking words of peace to her. The next day when I came into the coffeehouse, she wasn’t sitting in her usual spot in the front window. She was cozied up to the bar, smiling and giggling and talking with the baristas. What a difference a day makes! What a difference a kind word makes, that speaking peace and blessing makes. What a difference a smile makes!
Reflect:
Today I bless you with the countenance of the Lord turning toward you. His face shining upon you. May you experience the nearness and the love of God through seeing his face in the everyday places of your life. May you see his face through the leaves on the trees, through the mountains and the ocean. May you see his face through the face of your loved ones. May you see his face in the face of the destitute. May you see his face in the face of everyone you meet today. May you see his face in every aspect of creation that you encounter today. Even when you close your eyes, may you see his face.
Soak in God’s blessing over you today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpJKkmW6pOo
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Sutherland along with her husband Stuart are founders of Heritage Missional Community and Heritage Coffeehouse in Shasta Lake, CA. Before becoming a full time missionary Sara was a homemaker and homeschooled her daughters, Natalie (23) and Halie (20). The Sutherlands launched Heritage in 2013 as a new expression of church under the covering of Bill and Jill Randall, then pastors at Risen King Church in Redding. Heritage Coffeehouse serves specialty coffee and contemporary food, and is good news in a poor community where about 72% of people are not religious. Heritage is an integrated business and ministry that engages culture, invites people who are far from God to discover Jesus, and develops everyday missionary leaders. When the Sutherlands joined Novo in late 2020 it was like coming home.