Eyes To See

Eyes to See

My four-legged office assistant isn’t seeing so well. For several days now his eyes have been irritated, red, and seepy. The vet advised that I try dosing him with Benadryl for a couple of days to see if he might be suffering from allergies. I did. No change. An ensuing office visit revealed both an eye infection and “inadequate tear production.” The planned course of treatment involves two messy ointments applied twice daily to his cornea. Meanwhile, Owen squints like an old man who’s lost his bifocals.

Our present eye ordeal has made me think of my own vision. I’m wondering about the eyes of my heart. Jesus referenced this spiritual vision often. He said things like “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body” and “When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light” (Matthew 6:22). He told his followers, “Get rid of the log in your own eye” (Matthew 7:5). Years later, the apostle John wrote to the church at Laodicea that Jesus was able to provide “ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see” (Revelation 3:18).

I need my Father’s eyes. I need him to help me see beyond the surface to the things that really matter. I need his Holy Spirit to reveal to me my own sin. I need the “heart eyes” of Jesus to see and feel the needs of others around me. I confess that sometimes I am squinting and tentatively moving here and there in feeble response, unsure, unsteady, unseeing.

I’m beginning to more keenly understand the words to one of my favorite hymns:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

It is his presence that brings light. It is his presence that gives sight. It is his presence that chases away the darkness. May his presence do these things for me—and you—this very day, and give us eyes to see.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

Ephesians 1:18