Numbers 6:26 The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

The Lord turning his face toward us is very similar to the picture of his face shining on us. Everything in his face is lifted up: the corners of his mouth, his eyelids and eyebrows, his whole head. He is happy and pleased, not because we have been so good, but because he has made us the objects of his affection and the recipients of his love.

Knowing that God is smiling on me and loves me every day gives me peace. It settles my heart. Like you, I feel bad about my past. There are so many things I have done or said that are “cringe-worthy.” I hope that the people who witnessed them have short memories, but I certainly haven’t forgotten. A sense of embarrassment or guilt still clings to the memory.

Like you I get frustrated with my present. So many days I get none of the things done I had planned. Interruptions, distractions, little emergencies, mental blocks, and sometimes just the wrong talent set get in the way. My church isn’t where I thought it would be at this point in time. My home projects aren’t where I thought they would be at this point in time. My family life isn’t where I thought it would be at this point in time. My personal growth in faith and Christian living isn’t where I thought it would be at this point in time. And each new day, things seem to get a little further behind.

Like you I worry about my future. How long will my health and energy hold out? What does the future hold for my work? Will my preaching and teaching become irrelevant and out-of-touch? Will I be ready for retirement? Will I be able to retire?

Then God states his blessing: “May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” What needs forgiving has been forgiven. What is out of my control is under his control. What isn’t turning out the way I wanted is still coming together according to his plan. I shouldn’t stop working hard and doing my best. But every day the Lord is looking on my life with his favor and love, working my life out to serve me and the people I love. And as often as his word and his Spirit remind me, I have peace again, peace to replace my doubts.            

This and the other blessings God promises aren’t rooted in happy fantasies. They are based on the promise of his own word. Most Sundays, these words of promise are spoken over us just before we go home from church. Every day, his blessing will happen, just as he said. “In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”