Week 2 | Connection: In the Gaze of God, Matthew 3

As people of the first century heard the Father call Jesus “the Beloved,” something very specific would have come to mind. In the Old Testament, the word beloved is used 42 times and 26 of these are in the Song of Songs. 

The concept of beloved speaks to deep intimacy and knowing. The oneness of the marriage relationship is a picture of the oneness between the members of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit) and the oneness between God and His people. 

We long for the intimacy of God. We were created with a need to be known, seen, and understood. In using the word beloved, God is saying: “I see you. I know you. I understand.”

Just before the people of Israel were delivered out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery, we read the following in Exodus 3:7-8a:

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heardtheir cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

This is an intimate description of God’s relationship with the people of Israel. They were in distress, and they groaned as they cried out for help. God saw them. He heard them. He knew.

As we walk through life, we may feel like we are all alone as we ask questions like: “Is there anyone who understands? Is there anyone who knows? Is there anyone who sees me?” When we experience such things, we can let God love us. He is always loving us. That is the concept of being His beloved. The invitation is to receive God’s seeing and knowing of us. 

How do we do that? The book Joyful Journey suggests that we engage the practice of using our imagination to hear God engage us with His love, utilizing the framework of Exodus 3 of being seen, heard, and known.

It can be helpful to journal this exercise. 

• We begin by considering our situation and imagine God saying, “I see that you (insert your current experience and perhaps the state of your soul).” 
• Next, imagine the Lord saying, “I hear what you are saying to yourself (insert the words, concepts, and ideas that are framing things for you).” 
• Then, use your imagination to hear God saying, “I know this is (insert how you are feeling) for you.” 
• Finally, hear the Lord saying, “I’m glad to be here with you and I can do something about what you are experiencing,” and then sit quietly, noticing what the Lord might be saying to you in this moment.

Quite often, we just don’t or can’t let God love us. We may pray about things and ask God to act, but being the beloved is an invitation to receive His love and see all that He is doing through a lens of being seen, heard, and known.

Will you let God love you?

Consider this poem “Let Your God Love You” by Edwina Gately:

Sit with Him, knowing that you are His beloved. As you sit quietly, let everything else fall away – thoughts, requests, words, feelings. In the “emptiness” before God, let His love for you, His care for you, move from your head into your heart.

Prayer: Lord, help me to sit quietly, still, alone, empty before You. I receive Your gaze. I receive that You know and understand me. Help me to receive Your love. Amen.