What happened? Perhaps a car cut you off in traffic or you cross paths with someone who rubs you wrong or someone makes you angry. A countenance change takes you from one emotion to another in a short amount of time.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Growing up in church, my pastor use to close out the service by saying, “May the Lord lift up his countenance (or face) toward you…” As a child I did not understand how God could lift His face toward me, wasn't He bigger than me?
But now that I'm older I have a clearer picture of what this really means.
Our face continually changes: it smiles, it frowns, it cries, it gets bent out of shape but God's face never changes. Think about it; He never takes His eye off of of us. (His eye is even on the sparrow!)
To experience the countenance of the Lord, to see His face, we must turn our head towards His. Just as a father leans down and picks up his young child, all the while keeping an eye on his child. The child feels safe in his arms as he turns and looks his daddy in the eye.
We all need this blessing prayed over us as we exit the church doors;
"May the Lord lift up his countenance (or face) toward you…”
But may we all understand that daily we must look up into our Heavenly Daddy's eyes to receive this peace that only He gives.
God is bigger than any circumstance we face; may our countenance be changed today as we look into God's face.
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