Being a lover of the natural world, I follow Natgeo (National Geographic) on Instagram. A couple of days ago a photo of a gray whale taken by Florian Schulz in a Baja lagoon froze my scrolling.

Florian is a professional photographer specializing in wildlife and conservation photojournalism. This was his Instagram post:

“I was so touched by this whale mother. She moved so close that I could reach her. She looked directly at me, and I felt we had a silent conversation. No words, just observing each other. It gave me chills…there was so much wisdom radiating from her gentle look….”

Several things struck me as I read his post and studied the photo. The first arresting statement was that the whale approached him and moved so close that he could touch her. These whales actually seek human interaction and seem to enjoy it. Then she set her gaze on him and lingered there. His reaction to peering into the deep eye of this massive creature looking back at him was a profoundly moving experience. He was awestruck by the wisdom and gentleness radiating in her look and it gave him chills. Lastly, there was a silent conversation between them – a communication of knowing beyond the language of sound. No words, just beholding each other.

Such an obvious segue to the God who reveals His divine nature in the natural world:

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry. Psalm 34:15

We have a very attentive God who desires an up-close-and-personal relationship with us and seeks it relentlessly. He sets His gaze on us, leans toward us and yearns to interact with us. He is always looking into our eyes, always listening to our voice, and always thinking of us. We are never out of His thoughts, out of His sight or beyond His hearing. Nothing distracts His persistent presence from us.  

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “He observes them with approval and tender consideration; they are so dear to him that he cannot take his eyes off them; he watches each one of them as carefully and intently as if they were only that one creature in the universe.” [1]

Selah – pause a moment and ponder the implications of that. Read it again and linger over it. This both astounds me and humbles me when I reflect on my sporadic attention to Him.

A personal encounter with the Living God, looking at Him looking back at me, is profoundly moving. This massive Being desires our companionship beyond what our intellect can grasp. But the knowing of the heart – the very heart of spiritual knowing – is living so close to Him that you can reach out and touch Him. Most of the time, there are no words exchanged.

This transformative knowing requires that we step out of ourselves and our preoccupations with the crises and demands of these shadowlands and soak our souls in the quiet depths of His unfailing everlasting love. When you drop the barriers in naked vulnerability and slip into His love, it will give you chills of the best kind and will utterly transform you from the inside out.

This knowing of God through a genuine living encounter with Him comes from “sitting at the feet of Jesus, gazing into his face and listening to his assurances of love for me. It comes from letting God’s love wash over me, not simply trying to believe it. It comes from soaking in the scriptural assurances of such love, not simply reading them and trying to remember or believe them. It comes from spending time with God, observing how he looks at me. It comes from watching his watchfulness over me and listening to his protestations of love for me.”[2]

Spend some time, some days, soaking in the assurances of Psalm 139 and just behold Him.

Looking into the all-seeing eyes of the Holy God looking into the soul of me, I anticipate reaction. But His eyes don’t widen in shock or His brow furrow in disapproval, nor does He turn away in disappointment. Incredibly, His heart melts in compassion and His eyes glisten with tenderness. I am undone by unfailing, unflinching, unhesitating love and sink into the eternal depths of the eyes of the Living God.

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[1] Spurgeon, Charles H. (1988). The Treasury of David, Volume 1. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

[2] Benner, David G. (2015). Surrender To Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.