To my right stood Victor (my new friend who I will write about later), to my left and in front of me stood the other men, like Victor, from the streets. In the section beside me there was a large group of bikers from a biker gang inter mingled with Guatemalans. Across the room I saw white folks, some dressed all preppy and some clothed in worn out apparel. As I looked around the room I saw people clean and filthy, bodies large and small, ages young and old. I saw people of all different backgrounds, circumstances, and futures. I saw a crowd that could not be more diverse, and I stood in the midst of it.
As soon as the music began, instead of the crowd diverging, our attention came together..all allured by the sweet sound coming from the stage. As the sound took control of our focus, people started to clap. Some clapped to the beat, some clapped more off-beat than a baby with a drum. Hands came together at all different paces. The noise was chaotic, but let me tell you I have never heard a beat more in sync. It wasn’t the beat itself but it was the purpose behind the beat which brought unity.
I looked around the room at all the different faces, thinking how bizarre it is too see them gathered in one place. In one room, in one church, all worshiping one God. In that moment the Lord gave me a taste of heaven; He gave me a picture of what the crowd will be like in Heaven and that picture was of what was before my eyes. People of all types and opposite backgrounds. People who could not be more different…but who could not be more unified.
With my eyes I saw a strange looking crowd. With my eyes I deemed this bunch a people who do not belong together. But the Lord’s eyes are not swayed by outward appearances. Heaven does not discriminate. The Lord has made a way for all mankind. Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity. So with the Lord’s eyes I saw brothers and sisters; I saw men, women and children who I can relate with. I saw true identity in the Spirit. Through His eyes I saw a unified force with one purpose. I saw absolute Royalty.
My prayer is that I can choose to see God’s children through His eyes. That I can look past appearances and emotions, and treat people for who they truly are…a royal child of the king just like me.
