“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, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19)
As Jesus and the disciples traveled away from the Temple, they came upon a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:2-3)
In verses 6 and 7 we read, “When he had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”
You can learn a lot about a person looking into their eyes. The eyes are the portal to the soul. The Message Version of Matthew 6:22-23 explains it this way, “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!”
Any husband who has sat through a drapery appointment will tell you, “Window decorating is complicated”. Researchers used to oversimplify eye color designations as a simple inheritance pattern. Brown eyes were dominant to blue eyes and that set the range of eye color. Scientists now see it “A bit more complex,” with words like chromosomes, genes named OCA2 and HERC2, pieces of DNA, and alleles which can be dominant or repressive.
God makes the complicated simple. He takes two pigments, brown and red, along with some bundles of collagen, and paints windows with blue, hazel, shades of light and dark browns, and gray. These colors, along with His fiery sparkle, can stir greeting hearts to warmth and love, compassion and action. God even tells us His own eye color in Revelation 1:14, “His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes were flames of fire.”
God takes a deep look into our hearts with His piercing gaze and sees everything. Nothing is hidden from His sight. God cares what His children are seeing and doing. Investing our viewing time, downloading all manner of gutter smuck, only serves to dirty the windows of our soul. Jeremiah 17:10 reminds us, “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “We are responsible for directing our children onto the right path, so that when they are older, they will not leave it.” Teaching our children honesty, integrity, love, respect and responsibility is our job as a parent. But remember, our children will do what they see us doing and saying, and will imitate our behavior and speech. It’s not cute having your toddler blurt out an offensive curse word in a public place. The children are quick studies, they recognize when we put on a smiley face for the public and act like Mr. and Mrs. Grumpy at home. “For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do.” (Job 34:21)
We have a lot in common with the blind man. We were formed with dust of the earth and God breathed life into us. And, God wants us to display His good works with our lives. While the blind man could not see earthly things, we all experience “spiritual blindness” from Adam’s sin. We are made in God’s image, with a sparkle in our eye, but during time without Jesus, scales form over the eyes of our heart, hardening and hardening till the sparkle is a dim flicker of the person God called us to be. We need to be touched by Jesus; Washed clean in His blood, and SENT out SEEING to fulfill His purpose. It is as simple as that!
If you are sensitive, and have spiritual awareness, God can help you understand the needs of those you meet. Glancing into their eyes you may see peace, anxiousness, depression, awkwardness, pain, sadness, joy, loss, curiosity or contentment. From what you see ask God what he wants from you. Perhaps He wants you to connect with the person, encourage, or silently pray for them. You must trust God for direction. “There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 MSG)
How about a spiritual eye test? “What does the chameleon see when he looks back at me? Do I blend into my surroundings, indistinguishable from the world? Do I look different, set apart?”
“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, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19)
Shaped by Faith Prayer
Open the eyes of our heart Lord, so that we may see things clearly. Take off the blinders on our eyes and heart that have us bound up, and free us from our sin. Show us the way Lord, and help us to see beyond our current circumstances. Uproot our sin that has entangled and distorted our view of You. Restore our eyesight Lord, so that we can see what you see! We thank you in advance for our new vision and Your clear direction.