3:254 – Seeing It Through Other’s Eyes

#faithbites #faithjourney eyes

Setting

Lately, I’ve been seeing so much anger and hate from people. I’ve also seen people trying to be right at all costs. It has been comical that someone can say one thing and mean it towards one side of the political aisle but you can equally apply it to the other side as well. When I sat down to write this, I wanted to challenge people to look at things from someone else’s eyes. Trying to see what they are thinking, feeling, and why they feel the way they do. Then I realized, that that may not be effective. We are so entrenched that it may be impossible to see someone else’s point of view. Then it hit me. What if we looked at it through God’s eyes.

What does God see? What “side” is God on? The simple answer is God sees everything and he isn’t on a side. He is for love, kindness, gentleness, and humanity.

Are you looking at something as your side or another? What about God?

Scripture

• Psalm 119:18 – Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
• Isaiah 6:10 – Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
• Proverbs 15:3 – The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
• 2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Reflection

Nothing happens without God seeing it. He doesn’t see the left, the right, or the middle. He sees all of his children, whom he loves. He gives us his word so that we can see things through his eyes, we just need to do it. I had to read the Isaiah text several times as I didn’t get it. Basically, it’s saying rob us of our senses and our comfort to force us to see things with our hearts, to hear the truth with our ears, and be healed.

This is what we need. We don’t need one side to win or lose. We can’t fight emotion with logic. Our God doesn’t want any of that. He also knows that we struggle, we fail and need forgiveness. No one is ever cast off or deemed unsavable. He wants us all to repent and be forgiven.

This all sounds pretty lofty. What can we do to see with God’s eyes? How can we remove our preconceived notions and need to be right?

I know I’m trying but failing at it. I pray, continue to pray, and listen. When I feel my heart hurt, I know I’m not doing something right. I personally need to strive for the better and not for being right.

Challenge

Next time you are trying to see from their side, stop and look at it from God’s eyes. Instead of trying to fight emotion with facts, share love and God. Let’s change the narrative.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to stop trying to be right and trying to win. We mean well when we want to see it from someone else’s perspective but all of our perspectives are slanted by our experiences. Yours is the true perspective and the one that we want to live by. Please dull our hearts, make our ears heavy, and help us to see the truth in your eyes. We pray all of this in your name, Amen.