Helping Others See God!

Do you need glasses to see clearly? Many people today require some magnifying device, called either eyeglasses or contact lenses! Eyeglasses help our eyes to focus correctly and help enlarge things that we can no longer see naturally. Binoculars work in much the same way. If you look through a pair of binoculars for that bull elk, everything looks like a blur until you get the focus correct. Once you get the focus correct you can count the points, check the condition of the coat, etc. It is helpful to use these magnifying and focusing devices in order to get a clear picture of what you are looking at.

In Psalm 34:3, the psalmist says, “Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!” (NAS) There are many people in this world who only see a blur when they are looking for God. They can’t find Him in the midst of life’s difficulties, or among the myriad of things flooding their view. That is why it is important for those who know God to help magnify the Lord! It is not that God is too small for people to see. It is that they can’t focus enough to cut out the flood of superfluous images that make it hard for them to see God. Thus, one of our tasks as Christians is to help bring God into focus for others, so that they can see Him, come to believe in Him, and thus gain the wonderful benefits of living life in relationship with Jesus Christ. It is our privilege to adjust the focus on the binoculars, and hand them to those who do not know Jesus, that they might get a glimpse of the God they are missing.

The psalmist’s prayer was that God would be magnified through his life. How do we magnify God for others, or bring God into focus so that others can see Him? We find the answers in verses one and two of the 34th Psalm. In verse one we are instructed to bless the LORD at all times. To bless means to “speak well about” someone, to speak good things about the person. Thus at all times we are to speak well of God and point out the good things about God’s nature and God’s activities. We are to continually speak of the goodness and kindness of God. When we do this, we help bring God into focus for others.

Verse one also tells us to have God’s praise continually in our mouths. Praise is happily giving the credit to God for what just happened in your life. When good things happen, praise God for His intervention and blessings! When seemingly bad things happen, praise God that He is in control, and that He has promised that He can make all things work together to a good result for those who love Him! As we praise God for the things He does for us everyday, others’ attention is drawn to the fact that they just experienced an intervention of God. It brings God’s reality and daily activities into focus, so that others can realize that our God lives, acts, and intervenes on our behalf!

One other way we can bring God into focus is by making God that which we boast about. In verse two the psalmist says that his soul shall boast in the Lord, and other people who recognize their own need for God, will hear of his dependence upon God and be glad themselves. When people come to understand that God is the reason for any success we have, the source of our blessings, the source of our wisdom, and the sustainer of our lives, then God will be brought into focus in their consciousness as well. Others may not respond by embracing our God, but they will find it difficult to deny that God is real and active in our lives!

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the privilege and responsibility to help bring God into focus for others. We can do this by continually saying good things about our God who is always so good in His dealings with us, by giving God the praise and credit for His interventions and blessings in our lives, and by making it obvious that God is the most important person in our lives. As we do this, God is magnified and brought into focus, and it is easier for everyone to see God and His activities in the daily experiences of our lives! Magnify the LORD!