Some people go through life with their eyes closed. There is a time to close our eyes — moments that demand rest with closed eyes. But most of life was meant to be lived with OUR EYES WIDE OPEN. The problem is that we miss so much when our eyes are closed. Jesus went through life with His eyes WIDE OPEN. Here are four places we can learn from Jesus about how to KEEP OUR EYES OPEN.
- IN OUR CONFUSION. Jesus told a parable. The disciples didn’t understand it. They followed Him home and asked, “What did the parable mean?” Jesus explained it to them, but before He did He said something curious: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been GIVEN TO YOU. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but NEVER UNDERSTANDING…” (Mark 4:11-12). The disciples who cared enough to follow Jesus home got their questions answered. Many others never found answers — they never understood because they DIDN’T CARE enough to seek and ask. “…NARROW is the gate and difficult is the way which LEADS TO LIFE (zōē: eternal life) and there are FEW who find it.” (Matt. 7:14) Our eyes are opened when we INVEST TIME IN GOD’S WORD and care enough to DIG for the answers. God reveals Himself to us when WE ARE HUNGRY enough to make an effort. God reveals Himself to those who care enough to SHOW UP.
- IN OUR HEALING. Jesus met a man born blind. The disciples asked a theological question: “Who sinned that this man was born blind?” (John 9:2). Jesus said, “No one sinned!” The man was born blind so that God’s glory COULD BE REVEALED through him. God’s glory is revealed in our STRUGGLES and HEARTACHE and BROKENNESS. God’s glory IS REVEALED IN OUR HEALING. God reveals Himself to us in the lowest and hardest places of our journey.
- IN OUR SOLITUDE. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene after she discovered the empty tomb. She was crying alone in the Garden adjacent to the tomb (John 20:11). Jesus approached her, but she didn’t recognize him. She thought He was the gardener (John 20:15). Jesus whispered her name. She recognized His voice and her eyes were opened. She fell to the ground and worshipped him. Jesus told us that “His sheep would recognize His voice” (John 10:4). But his voice doesn’t usually come with loud thunder or great strong wind (1 Kings 19:12). Jesus’ voice is often to be found in a “still small voice”. Isaiah the prophet says, “Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper” (Isa. 29:4). We must take time to LISTEN for His voice…
- IN OUR DISAPPOINTMENT. Two men were walking home from Jerusalem. They lived in a village called Emmaus. They were disciples of Jesus but He had been crucified just three days before. They were HEARTBROKEN and DISAPPOINTED. They had thought that Jesus was the Messiah — the one they had been waiting for. But now He was dead and all that was left was to pick up the broken pieces of their hopes and move on. JESUS APPEARED TO THEM on the road. They didn’t recognize Him. It wasn’t until they invited Him into their home and broke bread with him that “their eyes were OPENED and they recognized Jesus” (Luke 24:31). It’s in the moments when disappointment overwhelms us that we must invite Jesus to live with us in the disappointment. HE WILL OPEN OUR EYES.
-Bill Stockham