Thursday, June 4, 2009

My Father's Eyes

My son has an eye malady. It was discovered when he was about 4 years old. His right eye has trouble focusing, causing it to turn inward. He was prescribed glasses along with a regiment of patching the left eye. The plan was to redirect the right eye.


Each year he had eye exams. Every time we were given the news that everything was working well. But the doctors didn’t see everything. The routine eye exams didn’t tell the full story. Things weren’t completely restored.


When he was 13 years old my son began to complain of his vision being blurred. We visited a doctor who specialized in vision therapy. His tests revealed the problem. The brain was still telling the muscles of the right eye to focus the wrong way, throwing his vision off.


He was prescribed bifocals. The thought was that the bifocals would help his eyes focus as they were intended and as a result the brain would be reprogrammed.


The similarities to my spiritual world astound me. My eyes often turn inward, and in the process I lose focus of what’s really going on. Things get out of balance and my programming gets all screwed up.


I wonder how often that happens without us knowing it. We’ve been given a unique display of God in our lives. He gifts us and calls us out. But without our knowledge, the enemy sneaks in with a twist. His plan is to distort, discourage and diminish.


As I sat with Papa God, He began to speak to me. “Jewel, you see based on what you see in the natural world.” “You’re not seeing with the eyes of the Spirit.” “Your focus is out of balance.”


“Oh Jesus, I want to see through my Father’s eyes.”


An old song pops into my head. It’s one of Amy Grant’s oldies but goodies. One verse in particular sticks out to me. “Eyes that find the good in things when good is not around.”


I don’t often see the good in things when good is not around. I see with blurred vision. I forget to ask Papa God what He sees. I know what I see. But what does He see? That’s the question. That’s where I lose touch.


My eyes are the lamp to my body. When my eyes are focused on what they should be focused on, my whole body is full of light. But when they turn inward, things will get distorted.


I see but through a mirror dimly, but what if I were to see face to face? What if the eyes I looked through were Spirit eyes? What if in every situation, every day I asked God what He saw? The darkness would be exposed for what it was. For when light enters a room, darkness disappears. As the dawn announces the day, the dark of night is laid to rest.


There is never a time where God is not doing good in each and every situation. There is never a time that God does not see good in me and in everyone else. He sees me as He created me to be. He sees from another spectrum. One that is right and good. I want to see what He sees. I want my Father’s eyes.


Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. Luke 11:34

©copyright: 2009 Julie L. Todd

8 comments:

Karen said... Reply to comment

That is a beautiful post! Oh, to see through our Father's eyes...what a difference there would be in so many things...

" There is never a time where God is not doing good in each and every situation. " Amen!! I believe that is a most important message for all...and one we tend to forgot or "lose focus of" when things are rocky...

Thank you for these most encouraging words, Julie!

Billy Coffey said... Reply to comment

I have a tendency to walk around with my eyes turned inward too, Julie. Which is a big reason why I'm always bumping into things.

Oh, to see what and how He sees. This will be my prayer now.

Beautiful post.

Laura said... Reply to comment

What a great ananlogy, Jewel! Things always go array when I'm self-focused. But why? Why do I always need those reminders (like the blurred vision) to look through the eyes of the Spirit? Sigh. I'm a work in progress, right?

I miss my regular visits, but life is crazy right now. I read you often at work on my breaks, but our computer system there blocks my ability to comment. Then, before I know it, another week has gone by.

Thinking of you...

Bretta said... Reply to comment

"There is never a time where God is not doing good in each and every situation."

I needed to hear this today. Do you have my house bugged? ;o)

Thank you...again.

XO

Crown of Beauty said... Reply to comment

I loved this post, Julie.

While reading it I kept agreeing with every word you wrote. How true indeed. We need to see with our spiritual eyes, because our physical eyes are often out of focus. Francis Frangipane says we need to see the "prayed for version" of our earthly realities. This prayed for version is how the Father sees our circumstances and situation.

I thank God for giving you the insight for this post, Julie.

christy rose said... Reply to comment

Julie,
This is a wonderful post about seeing the world the way that God sees it. You know sometimes we only see so much bad in this world, and there most definitely is. But, what you said here is eye opening and very enlightening in Truth. God sees the world now in the light of His wrath already being satisfied when He poured all of it on Jesus at the cross. And, now His eyes see us as in Jesus and Jesus in us. Wow, and that is how we will see each other when we are looking through His eyes. Never seeing other believer's faults and failures, always seeing them as righteous and holy and new creatures in Christ. What a different world we will have when we begin to see more and more clearly as our Father does.

I love the Amy Grant song so much.
Christy

ps I have two girls who have a similar issue with their eyes. One eye is stonger than the other so they had to patch when they were younger too. That was so not fun! They wear glasses or contacts now, but when they don't their weak eye still crosses over sometimes.

Aunt Angie said... Reply to comment

What a great post...your words really prompted me to direct my thoughts at what the LORD is speaking...on a daily basis...and so often I whine about "me"...instead of thinking or SEEING what HE desires me to see...

This was a tremendous blessing :)

Amy said... Reply to comment

Julie,

You have an amazing ability to put powerful spiritual messages into words!

The song you mentioned, "My Father's Eyes" was one of the first songs God used to draw me close to Him. The song triggers such good memories of my times of worship. I actually still have 3 Amy Grant cassette tapes from the early eighties.

Thank you for blessing my life through your writing!

Love you,
Amy