Behold

Behold

By Elisa Morgan

I pick up my phone and scroll to the word game saved on my home page. The word game I’m pretty sure I might be addicted to as I’m currently at level 872. Stuck on a seven-letter word, I shift to check my email. Nothing new there. But ohhhhhh the continuation of bad news alerts. More and more. 

My computer screen holds the several devotionals I’m working on, an outline for a Bible study and this under-construction blog.

In the kitchen, ground meat sits on the counter, thawing for dinner prep. The wash needs to move to the dryer. Thirsty plants await water. Mia wants out. Again. After staring at her image in the ceiling to floor mirror, she’s sure she’ll find that cute little creature outside and wants to play. I just brought her back in.

I’m “busy.” But with what?

A few months ago, I was recording a series with the Discover the Word team and its one-word title grabbed me – and held me.

Behold!

Daniel, one of our co-hosts, led our group through several uses of the term in the Old Testament and helped us discover how various Hebrew words translate different meanings. The main meaning? To behold means to notice. To pay attention. Central to his insights is the reality that we 21^st century humans rarely behold anything. Instead, we flit from thing to thing, thought to thought, action to action, distraction to distraction.

What if we behold?

I put my phone down. I lift my gaze. There are low white puffs of clouds on the mountains in the distance. The kind that will quickly evaporate into mist or blow away from view. I pause to behold and notice spongy green turf on the mountain’s side. I would have missed it if I hadn’t stopped to behold.

My ears hone in on the fountain noise in the distance. A landscape feature someone has installed that provides soothing background vibes. When I pause to listen. To behold.

I sit close to my husband on the couch during a zoom call with a few friends who are far-flung around our planet. One couple is grieving. The others listen. Instead of working up my next response, I linger longer in listening. I focus on their faces. I behold.

Perhaps beholding isn’t a posture we can maintain for an infinite season. It may be that such focus is too exhausting for mere mortals to embrace for a long period of time. But in our insatiable desire for the “next” we may miss the opportunity to behold altogether. To take in the small and mighty wonders around us. To pause to notice and then internalize the realities right before us. To pause and focus, hear and receive, look and see.

And that, it would seem, would be a very sad thing. To miss. To ignore. To overlook. To diminish the extraordinary that is waiting to be discovered when we…

behold.

Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things… Psalm 119:18 NASB

Elisa Morgan is the author of Fruitful Living. She is the cohost of the podcast, God Hears Her. She is also the cohost of Discover the Word and contributor to Our Daily Bread. Her other books include Christmas Changes Everything, You are Not Alone, When We Pray Like Jesus, Hello, Beauty Full, and The Beauty of Broken. Connect with Elisa @elisamorganauthor on Facebook and Instagram.