eyes that burn

“…his eyes were like blazing fire…” Revelation 1:14

I long to see Your eyes, oh God--eyes pierced with fire, Israel embedded at their core, intimately focused on a single humble worshipper. You, who are both beginning and ending, yet somehow wrapped up in my concerns down in the middle. The forever-flesh yet fully-divine God. My friend.

You're so far above the plainness of our one-dimensional gaze. Your burn to the heart with a glance. Personal. Real. The only fire that brings life while it destroys. Spirit power taking precedence over my multitude of broken, useless words. Divine fire refining through years of hiding to get at the nugget of truth deep within the heart.

It is the very beauty of Your holiness that sets the seraphim on fire. It is a testimony of Your patience that You have not reduced me to ashes. You sit in the center of the whirlwind. You’re a consuming fire, and I am what You want most in the world. Yet You know that the fullness of who You are would overwhelm me, so You hold back. The more You lead us into longing, the more of You we are able to receive.

Your gaze is on the meek and lowly one. You rivet on the one whose heart is postured to devour the Words that fall from Your mouth. For what do You seek other than one who will be Your friend? This fire in Your eyes is raw passion and untouchable holiness, deserving far greater reverence than our casual concept of grace.

Let it be my cry of desperation: oh, teach me what it means to tremble at Your word, so I may draw Your eyes.