The Eyes of God

The Eyes of God

God give me Your eyes that I may see as You see. Give me Your hands that I may work as You worked.

It is not a modest prayer; but it is my prayer.

Jesus said that He did the works of the Father. He did what he saw His Father doing.

With the eyes of God, you see that the gift of the widow exceeds the value of the gold given by the rich man. When you see the incredible walls of Herod’s Temple, you see that the walls will not be standing in 100 years, and you also see that the walls of your physical life will not be standing then either.

With the eyes of God, you see the world differently. Likewise, with the eyes of faith, you see good that can be built into the lives of others. You see potentiality. You see the kingdom of God that can be established in the here and now.

And the sight of God you do not sell or broker or market. If you do-- your destiny will be worse than Balaam’s in the Old Testament and you may find yourself receiving correction by an ass.

If I have the eyes of God, then I see myself differently as well as those about me. Circumstances are seen from a new perspective. Adversities take on new meaning. The humble acts that are not seen by others will be noticed by me.

Perhaps I will have the eyes to see a poor mother saving for her child’s education or a mother quietly praying for her son’s safety in war. Perhaps I can see the sacrifice of a father who does not take the “big chance” for a job change because he wants to provide a stable home life for his wife and children.

The world becomes different somehow. Those who once seemed so successful and powerful do not seem to be so powerful after all . Sometimes people are blessed with good looks, power, success and wealth. They become convinced that these are rights that they they have earned through their own abilities. They are entitlements. Bought and paid for by their own goodness and efforts. However, sometimes, these items are just the gifts of God to see whether they will measure up as trustees to the great gifts given to them. Some mothers have children that are successful in all that they do. Others do not. Others see tragedy, or raise the handicapped. Their experiences give them a better clarity and they see with God’s eyes more accurately.

We evaluate our experiences. There is nothing wrong with this. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living.

One thing is for certain. The things we consider important prove to be less important than we think. Life is more fragile and transient that we first believed. Love and friendship are more valuable than we suspected.

Our priorities are more susceptible of being diverted than we had ever believed possible. Jesus said that we were to seek first the kingdom of God. However, our distractions attack us daily. There is a sense of priority when Jesus uses the word “first.” He means “first” before our church lives, our jobs or even our personal lives.

The way to the Kingdom of God, however, is not through knowledge or even seeing as God sees. Knowledge too passes away. The way to God is not through right think or “gnosis.”

The way to God is the same as it always has been. It is though grace. It is through sacrifice-not ours but His.