Eyes That See
What do you see: an old lady or a young girl? They’re both visible for those who have eyes to see. And they serve as an excellent illustration for one of the greatest, but I believe, most neglected truths in scripture.
Jesus explained it this way to the Samaritan woman by the well in Sychar: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24, NIV)
Again, just two chapters later, we read that the crowds following Jesus turned and walked away, leaving the Lord alone with his disciples. “Do you want to leave also,” Jesus asked the twelve? That’s when Simon Peter, who was not always known for his spiritual perception, spoke up and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:69, NIV)
Notice that I have placed in italics the phrase “the words of eternal life.” These words point back to something Jesus said just before the crowds left - “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63, NIV)
That’s it. One of the most neglected truths in scripture - to see and understand the things of God and the ways of God, you and I must cultivate a spiritual mind. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
But what does that mean, and more importantly, how do we learn to see with spiritual eyes? Here’s a couple of verses I think will help -
“For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Both of these verses point to what I like to refer to as our spiritual eyes. And one of the best illustrations of this is found in the story of Elisha and his servant in the city of Dothan. Surrounded by the Syrian army, Elisha’s servant cried out in desperation and fear. “What shall we do,” he asked Elisha?
That’s when God’s prophet prayed, “Open his eyes Lord, so that he may see.” (2 Kings 6:17) Immediately, the servant’s spiritual eyes were opened, and he saw the army of God with horses and chariots of fire covering the hills above where the Syrian army was camped.
To see things from God’s perspective, we must learn to see our world through the eyes of faith, and the truth is that’s not an easy thing to do. Faith demands that we trust God in spite of what our eyes may see, in spite of what seems so obvious.
I recently shared about our transmission troubles in New York. I spent almost six weeks with my daughter and her husband while the local mechanics repaired our vehicle. It took FOREVER! I’m not even going to begin to describe the issues we had with the service department of one of the dealerships in New York. Even the Jeep corporate offices, who I contacted about the problem, had our Trailhawk towed to another dealer.
“Help me to see things from your perspective, Lord,” I prayed again and again. Meanwhile, I threw myself into my writing, walking my daughter’s dog daily (in the snow), building fires, cooking meals, washing dishes, and trying to make myself useful to my daughter and her husband.
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” were the words of my son-in-law as I prepared to leave the snow of New York for sunny Florida in late January after having our vehicle repaired at no cost, thanks to Jeep.
Looking back, I see God’s hand at work during that extended stay. I’m closer to both my daughter and her husband. We shared our lives with each other; we laughed, we talked about our hopes and dreams for the future, we even planned a Valentine’s Day meal together, thinking I would be stuck in New York through most of February! Sadly, they celebrated Valentine’s Day without me. :)
It’s so easy to see our lives from the limited perspective of the world’s way of seeing things. But God is calling us to see things from His perspective - living by faith, confidently trusting Him to work all things together for good.
Maybe that’s where you are today. Maybe you’re struggling with seeing God’s hand at work in your life. Believe me, I understand. But as someone who has recently come out the other side of a time of testing that challenged me to trust God with what my physical eyes could not see, let me encourage you to ask God to give you eyes of faith, allowing you to recognize His hand at work even in the most difficult times of life.
In Christ,
Dan