Do you see what I see? That, I think, is the question that God asks of us. It’s a really good question, because left to ourselves we are going to be completely enveloped by the world around us without much care or concert of eternal things or for what God has in mind.
Am I looking for God’s plans? For what is possible with Him, for Him, because of Him? Or am I so shortsighted that all of my plans and decisions are based on the here and now?
Let’s take a look at that phrase, “open my eyes”. Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.” What a perfect place to begin!
My eyes don’t see as clearly as they did years ago. Even though I’ve worn glasses or contacts for nearly 50 years!!! (What?!?! Where does the time go?) The change over the past 2 or 3 years has been in reading. What a difference light makes. Without a nice bright light it has become increasingly difficult to see. So not only do I need to open my eyes, I need to turn a bright light on. This gives new meaning to that prayer, open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your word, Lord.
Seriously though, I can not begin to appreciate the truth that He has written without the Holy Spirit making scripture become real to me.
Psalm 146:8 says, “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.”
This is both physically and spiritually true. Jesus did open the eyes of many blind people during His short ministry on earth. More than open physical vision to those who had suffered without it, He challenged His followers to see what God was seeing.
In Mark 8, Jesus was having some really intimate conversation with the boys. They talked about the “buzz” going around about Jesus. Peter stood out among them and declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah! It was quite a moment, definitely one in which God had given special “sight” to Peter who confidently grasped exactly who he was walking and talking with. It was God’s vision.
Jumping into that teachable moment Jesus shared some of His ultimate plan with them. That He would be tortured and crucified and so on. Well the one who moments ago had keen sight, now was back to earthly eyes, and spiritual blindness. Peter reprimanded Jesus for speaking this way, after all why was Jesus being such a downer, thought Peter.
Jesus replied to Peter with strong words of rebuke, and went on to say that Peter was seeing with earthly eyes, not with God’s plan in mind.
Vision. What I’ve grasped from this brief meditation is that God wants us to have it. He wants very much for us to see. In giving us the ability to see with physical eyes, we can understand a little better what it takes to see with spiritual eyes. In other words, to look for the places He wants to use us, and to go there to serve. To see the people who’s lives we can touch. To see His dreams and how we can be a part of making them a reality.
God’s vision isn’t seen with our eyes, but through His internal message to us. I pray that my heart and mind are open wide to that vision God wants to give to us and that we are bold enough to respond in faith and obedience.
