"Fix your eyes on..."

What do you fix your eyes on?

It's not a question I think about often, but today as I was praying, God taught me another lesson about faith, and what it means to fix your eyes on something.

In a couple of months, it will mark my 3rd year of knowing the band. I know many people probably think I'm a bit crazy, and sometimes I do too. (would it surprise you to know there are fans who have been there for 9 years! I'm not even one of the hard core fans.) I spend almost every weekend with these people, not just the band members, but also other fans. I really love my time there. I love the music, I love the people. It has been such a blessing to me.

But, I admit. I am a fan. When I go, of course, I can't understand 100% of the Japanese that is going on around me. Actually, I'm lucky to get 30%. So this means I have to gather information in other ways. My powers of observation have really grown since coming to Japan. I can't rely on language skills alone, so I watch, and learn. Maybe I have always been fairly observant, but I don't know if I ever LEARNED anything from it. Now, I'm putting those skills to good use.

So when I go to the band, I of course listen to the music, but I also watch. I probably watch very intently. I've gotten rather good actually. I can often guess what the next song will be, because I'm watching and listening to the members. Or I can recognize the first chord of a song. I can anticipate what they will do next, because I'm observing them so closely. I find great joy in this. I like knowing more about them and seeing what they will do next.

Now, this might seem like a strange tangent. But this is how God teaches me lessons. I have to learn by example. I have to see something in action to really understand it. Experience is the ultimate teacher.

So today God showed me how I can "fix my eyes" on the band and the joy I get from that. So how much more wonderful would it be to fix my eyes on Him? Wouldn't it be wonderful to be so focused on God that you can anticipate what He might do next? So caught up in His presence that you find out more and more about His character. So in tune with Him that He only has to play one chord before you know the next "song." That is my longing right now. I've experienced a small taste of that with the band. But I long to drink more deeply of the "real thing."

Right now there seems to be so much going on in Japan. I know something is coming. I can feel it everywhere. But I don't know what God is going to do next. But, like I wait eagerly for the next song the band will play, I am also waiting eagerly to see what God is going to do with all these strange pieces He is gathering here. God is making a new "song" for Japan, and I can't wait to hear it!

I'm thankful for this lesson in how I should be relating to God.

On a side note, I am looking for people willing to pray for me on a regular basis. If you are interested, please leave me a message, or send me an e-mail. Thank you very much.

The pictures today are some of the things I "set my eyes" on here in Japan. First is a picture of the band from last Sunday night. Then there is a nice park I went to a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it amazing how God can reveal things about Himself in anything?