I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. (Ephesians 1:18)
Spiritual growth begins and ends with God. He is the source of anything and everything we learn and know about him. As Paul writes in the passage above, the eyes of our hearts must be enlightened or opened by the Spirit of God.
The eyes in our hearts are far more valuable and important than the eyes in our heads. Helen Keller, blind from almost birth, once asked, “What can be worse than being born blind?” Her answer - “To have sight without vision!” Fanny Crosby, who was such a prolific hymn writer that she had to use pen names because so many hymnals were filled with her songs, developed an infection in her eyes at six weeks old and lost her sight. Yet, this wonderful woman of God could write the words of the famous hymn Blessed Assurance and proclaim, “Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight.”
Now, based on everything I’ve just said, I’m going to ask you to do something during this Lenten season. I’m going to ask you to ask your heavenly Father to open the eyes of your heart to see “the hope to which he has called you”.
Some of you reading these words desperately need hope. You are discouraged. You are tired. You’re wondering if you can go on. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been there. But God, your Father, can give you hope you have never imagined or experienced. It is the hope to which he has called you. As your spirit receives that hope from his Spirit, you will grow strong. You will walk and not faint, run and not grow weary.
Father, I pray today for those who need hope in their lives. Not worldly hope. Not hope based on bank accounts, doctor’s reports, or any other source of hope found in this world. I pray that you would give them your hope. The hope to which you have called them. The hope that will never disappoint. The hope that fills our hearts with your grace, love, and peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
In Christ,
Dan
Amen! May I always cling on to Your hope oh Lord!