12/10/24

Good morning!

Text:  Zechariah 4-6; Isaiah 50

I recently heard a speaker point out that in various places in Scripture the Lord asks prophets being shown a vision the same question:

This appears twice in today’s Zechariah text – in 4:2 and in 5:2.  Zechariah responds by naming what he is seeing. – in the first case a lamp stand, and in the second a flying scroll.  Visions come quickly in this book, but the content of each is not what got me thinking.  It is curious that the Lord should ask, “What do you see?”

It puts the prophet in the position to pause, look and process the sight, and then to say it aloud.  In answering the question, an impression becomes an idea, a glimpse solidifies into an anchor of truth.  I think this is a very needful thing – to slow down and ask “What do I see?” and then to put it into words.  So often I live and move through my day acting out of just my own nature and character without slowing down to see what is before me.  So often I pass through an encounter and miss what is there to see… a person in pain, a display of God’s beauty, or perhaps the obvious hand of God at work.  Often, whether I feel satisfied or uncomfortable, I do not pause and ask, “What do I see?”.  I miss opportunities to give thanks to the Lord or to seize an opportunity to serve or change or grow.  I like the idea of developing a pattern of asking myself “What do I see?”   So…. “what do you see?”

in Him,  Mike