Hiding in Plain Sight: Right In Front of My Face

Recently, my wife and I were putting up curtains around our house. Now you have to understand that when we do this, I tend to get something crooked.

The brackets might be uneven. They might not be level. They might be too far apart or too close together. It could be anything.

I am sure that I normally spend 20 minutes measuring and marking the walls to make sure I won’t have to drill anything twice, but to no avail. I seem to always be off by the smallest margin.

However, this time I got a new system that has helped me improve this simple task. It starts and ends with I got a bigger level.

I got my new level because I thought I had lost my small one (which had been the only one I owned until now) and it is only about a foot long. This new one is longer so it is much easier to get things level over a greater distance.

Even with my new system centered around my new level, I was still switching back and forth between my tape measure and the level trying to make sure everything was good.

Then my wife asked, “Isn’t there a ruler on top of the level?” I responded quickly that there wasn’t. (I think some of you might see where this is going.)

It turns out there is a ruler carved into the top, but in my defense, it is the same color as the level making it difficult to see. And the room we were working in at the time doesn’t have good lighting. But regardless, yes, there is a ruler on the top of the level. And it made hanging the curtain rods EVEN EASIER!

When I discovered the ruler on the level, I told her, “Wow, yes it does have a ruler on top. It was right in front of my face and I missed it.”

You see, I had been using my new level a lot outside to finish putting up the shed, but had not needed the ruler so I never noticed it even though I had been looking right at it. You see there is a hole cut in the top of the level so you can see the water level bubble - turns out the bubble is right in the center of the ruler…

It is a reminder that some things can literally be right in front of your face and you still miss it, for whatever reason. You can even be looking right at it and not see it.

In John 12:37, it says, “Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.”

There are many verses throughout the New Testament that allude to this principle, but this verse captures the essence that Jesus was out among the people performing miraculous signs and teaching with authority yet many people still did not believe.

Some were afraid because of the Jewish leaders. Some simply remained unconvinced. Some were more concerned about receiving praise from people than living into the truth. Some were just stubborn. There were some who saw and believed, but for the most part many still did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah - our Savior.

Similar to my level/ruler story, we can often get so focused on whatever we are doing and living life that we miss Jesus in our midst. We feel alone and isolated yet fail to recognize that God is with us. He is all around us actively pursuing a relationship with us and revealing Himself.

The question is: do I notice Him, or am I consumed with simply getting tasks done? Am I being stubborn toward Christ? Am I worried about what people would say if I really lived my life for Jesus?

Wherever you find yourself today, I encourage you to look up, turn on the light, and listen to Godly counsel in your life and you will see Jesus literally right in front of your face.

Anyway, I was just thinking…