OPEN YOUR EYES
Are the seemingly “good coincidences” in our life good luck or are they a sign or an act of a gracious God? Are they a special gift or a miracle?
Are the seemingly “bad coincidences” in our life just a run of bad luck, a sign we are doing wrong or headed in the wrong direction in our life? Are they an obstacle to teach us or turn us aside? Are they an act of the devil?
When the farmer prays for rain and the vacationer prays for sunshine, whom does God favor? Who gets the “miracle” from God?
God says:
Matthew 5:45 “..,God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Lamentations 3:38 “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth?
Isaiah4 5:6 “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,
7 “The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”
The potential for good fortune and for bad fortune is always present. Good and evil both exist. The presence of one does not validate the presence of the other; and the absence of one does not give room to the other. Both good and evil exist. And since they both exist we need to know how to discern and navigate our lives for good.
One of the Gifts and abilities given of the Holy Spirit is the ability to see and discern from a heavenly perspective, that is, from God’s perspective.
For example, the Apostle Paul prayed this for the Ephesian Christians: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling…and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1: 18-19).
Also, in 2 Kings 6:17 Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
The problem is that we don’t always see things clearly. It is like we are squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But we can have the weather clear and the sun shine bright! We can see it all as clearly as God sees.
(“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12)
We need our eyes opened so we may see what God would have us see. So we can see our way.
The Good News is that God has made a way – even when there doesn’t seem to be a way. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
He has made the “crooked paths straight” for anyone who can “See” and is willing to trust Him. (Isaiah 45:2)
He sees the beginning from the end on our behalf and He is providing a way for you and for me. (Isaiah 46:10)
Deuteronomy 30:15 tell us to, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.”
When you have trained your mind and the “eyes of your heart” you will “see God” and you will see as God sees.
“1 Timothy 6:16 says that no one can see God and yet Matthew 5:8 tells us that the pure in heart WILL see God. Is there a sense in which we will be able to ‘see’?
“There are the two ways we can see God:
“1. We use the word “see” to mean that we finally understand and discern the beauty and glory of God after being blind to it. Like when we say: Oh, now I see. Our soul is tuned in to the glory so that the glory of God that shines through the gospel is seen as glorious, and we are no longer spiritually blind to it. That is the first way we see him.
“To see God’s glory is to understand and discern the beauty of God after being blind to it.”
“2. And the second way is that, in the narrative of the Bible, we see the glory of God and finally we will see him face to face through Christ — by seeing Christ. So, John 1:14, 18 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. So, we see God by seeing Jesus. And 1 John 3:2, “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
“So, the implication is: Pursue purity of heart, purity of faith, purity of life so that your heart is able to see God’s beauty as what it really is in the Scripture, and so that, when he comes or when he calls us in death, we will see him face to face and be glorified with him. (John Piper)
It is then that our “miracle” occurs.
Having the Living Christ within us, and straining to obtain the mind of Christ as our own, we are thereby being transformed through the renewing or our minds, and in our mortal bodies proving the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Then, almost imperceptibly, though we were once blind, we now SEE! A special discernment or knowing overcomes us and we are drawn to that which is good and right, to that which is pure and honorable and lovely in His Sight. It is no mistake that your soul will abide in prosperity, and your descendants will inherit the land. (Psalm 25:13)
And you will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever your do, you prosper. (Psalm 1:3)
Now, set your eyes on things above!
Colossians 3:1 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young