I pray that the eyes of your heart maybe enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. Ephesians 1:18 NIV)
By God’s blessing and their perseverance, my daughter Elizabeth and her husband are celebrating their 21rst wedding anniversary this month. What a joy it’s been to see the fruitfulness of this union–not only with their four children, but how God has used Team Haslet to bring glory and honor for His Kingdom sake. As I was praying for them, I felt the Lord lead to pray that they have fresh eyes to see each other. To see each other as they are now, including all the changes that has happened in them and through them over the past 21 years. I know this will help them move forward for the next 21 years!
It is not only married couples that need to receive fresh eyes, but I realized we all do. We need fresh eyes to see our jobs, our employers or our employees. We need fresh eyes to walk with our church and church leaders. Too often wrong assumptions and expectations cause problems because we are viewing them or others through injured eyesight. We need fresh eyes to even see ourselves. As we grow older, our natural eyes grow dimmer. The muscles in our eyes do not react as they once did, and most of us find ourselves needing readers to see things we used to see fine. It was humbling to recognize my need for extra help in seeing, but admitting my need was the first step in being able to see clearly,
We find people in the Bible who struggled with natural eye sight problems. Isaac’s eyes grew so dim that he couldn’t discern the difference between his two sons Jacob and Esau. Jacob was able to deceive him (through a little help from his mama, Rebecca) Genesis 48. 1 Samuel 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. These are two examples of physical dimness, but sadder yet is spiritual dimness.
Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. when your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. Matthew 6:22-23 (NLT) Jesus was very serious here. We need His help to keep our eye clear and full of light. To keep our eyes full of light we must not be enticed by the things of this world, but we choose to follow Him and HIs ways.
Our spiritual and emotional eyes can grow dim for various reasons. We find David crying out to the Lord in Psalm 6:7 My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies. (NLT) Psalm 31:9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away, (NLT) The NIV version states: Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. When we walk through grievous situations, we must remember that we don’t often see clearly. Our eyes are focused on our distress (loss, turmoil, fear) we can often forget to look up, and see Him. Blurred vision is definitely not clear vision. In 2 Kings 6:17, Elisha prays for his servant, who is full of fear, that the Lord would open his eyes to see God’s help and strength that surrounded them. He desires to do the same for us.
Familiarity and just life circumstances can cause our eyes to grow dim and not see clearly those around us. We need a touch of His grace to see our spouse, our children, our leaders from His view point, not our own. Left to ourselves, our eyes of faith would grow dim and our vision small. We become critical and judgmental. Instead of walking by faith and in love, we walk in bitterness and suspicion, the works of the flesh. Divisions, divorce and depression can happen if our eyes are allowed to grow dim. But faith will open our eyes to the good future He has planned. It will bring hope to those hopeless areas. The eyes of our heart need to be enlightened so we can know and experience the hope to which He has called us to. We need fresh eyes to see Him and what He is doing in the midst of our circumstances–whether they be currently easy or difficult. Dear Ones, He needs us to have clear vision so we can help others who are blind.
Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me. The blind cannot lead anyone to a healthy safe place. If we do not see clearly we can become arrogant and prideful. The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:11 (NIV) Let’s seek Him today for fresh eyes.
Father, I thank You for enlightening the eyes of our hearts, so we can see You and Your ways clearly. Forgive us for allowing our eyes to grow dim by focusing on ourselves through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Father, we need Your touch so we can help others find You and Your life. Every area where we have become arrogant and prideful, forgive us. We need to see others as You see them. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Faith Encounters 