To See Through His Eyes

Pray a prayer for patience and you can almost hear a collective gasp and, figuratively, those around you take a giant step back. After all that’s one of those “dangerous prayers” that only the brave or the naïve dare pray. Well, call me naïve, because not only was I not prepared for what lie ahead, I was audacious enough to think I knew exactly what was going to happen when I prayed, “Lord, let me see others through your eyes.”

As I began to SEE the people around me differently – not through the lenses of politics or race, of social class or religion – I really wasn’t surprised so much at what I saw but the by the sheer magnitude of pain, desperation, and fear.

We have become so adept at masking our own wounds that we often fail to recognize them in the people around us.

Most troubling, however, were our collective reactions. Unfortunately when hurting people meet fearful people, the results are often explosive, and I was horrified by the way we will so easily lash out at one another in an attempt to protect ourselves. After praying to see the world more clearly through God’s eyes, I found myself devastated by my own helplessness. It occurs to me now that if I felt betrayed and full of sorrow, certainly God’s heart must be breaking.   So what could I, a sinful, introverted grandmother possibly do?

Well, over the next several months, my “simple prayer” turned into a massive life-changing lesson. In fact, I have a feeling I’ll be learning from it for a long time.

Mark 12:29-31 (LASBNLT – Bible Text)

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

1. First, I must listen. In the chaos and confusion around me, God is in control. I have a choice to listen to the message the world is sending me or I can listen to the message God has. One leads to destruction; the other to life.
2. I must love God with all my heart, soul and strength. Not just my eyes – ALL of me. When I give Him all of me, He guides all of me – what I see, what I hear, what I should say, my actions. I am not, therefore, paralyzed by my own inadequacies to meet so many needs because I am focused on God’s will for me.

Psalms 106:1-2 (LASBNLT – Bible Text)

Praise the Lord!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.  2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?  Who can ever praise him enough?

3. I must love others like I want to be loved. More importantly, I should really love them the way God loves them, and I cannot do that unless I have committed to loving Him with all of my heart, soul, and mind. It isn’t until I focus everything on HIM that I can look past my own baggage and see those around me. And it is only after I have received His love that I can truly know how to love anyone else.
4. I must be thankful. I must be intentional about looking for the blessings around me. I live in a world full of pain and sorrow and chaos, but I also live in a world full of beautiful blessings that I should thank God for every day!

I no longer have a list of “dangerous prayers” to avoid. As I learn more and more to love God with my ALL,

I have learned those “dangerous prayers” are powerful prayers I cannot afford to miss.

Now I pray that God would open my eyes to see what He wants me to see – to focus ALL of me – and then guide me to reach out and make a difference.