Looking for God's Delighted Face

I believe this is the best verse in the whole Bible that describes God. Five times throughout the Bible God is recorded this way. The Bible repeats a variation of this verse over 20 times.

So many of us don’t see God this way. Certainly not God being for you. 

In the study of attachment science there is a well-known video of an experiment called the Still Face Experiment. A toddler sits in a high chair. The mom faces her giving her full positive attention. Then the mother lets her face go blank. She has a still face. 

The baby starts trying all sorts of things to get the mother’s attention back. It starts with playfulness. It builds to a full-on crying meltdown. This is a hard video to watch. 

For this baby there is a happy ending. For so many of you, I don’t know. You believe God has a still face towards you. God is this blank face, unresponsive, and doesn’t notice you. 

This may be temporary for you, like a “dark night of the soul” time. Or maybe this is how you have always viewed God. 

We are all hard-wired for relationship. When we receive a still face from God, we can’t bear it. We are emotionally interrupted. Disconnection demands a response. Trust issues take root.

Why do you see a still face and I see God who is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, filled with unfailing love (hesed) and kindness? 

You are not exempt from knowing this face of God who is for you. Growth is our brains being rewired for perfect love. 

Many of us transfer our broken attachment onto our relationship with God. That makes sense. We have received broken human love. You use that same lens to view God because it is the only lens for love you have. You are literally trying to push perfect love through the same neural pathways you were given of imperfect love. 

To heal you have a helper. This is the Holy Spirit’s role. To help. To advocate. To empower. Let the Holy Spirit help you. Galatians 5:16 says, So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

This Christian faith is intensely personal. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, with you, shaping and forming you. This takes daily interaction. This takes listening for his voice. This takes delight. 

Attachment research has shown that delight is one of the keys to a secure attachment. When we see a face of delight we become emotionally safe so we can relax rather than perform. The way God is described throughout the Bible is a delighted face. Study that Exodus 34:6 verse and look for that face. 

And I’m sorry that those unfair things happened to you. That needs to be said too.

Question for Reflection:

1. What types of things do you take delight in?

2. Have you ever had “a dark night of the soul”? If so, how did you overcome it?

3. Have you ever truly considered that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you? If so, how does that make you feel?