Sometimes seeing clearly has very little to do with eyesight.

There are things we see with our eyes, and there are things we learn to see with faith, with our heart's eyes.

Scripture repeatedly uses the language of sight, light, darkness, blindness and opened eyes because seeing is about more than recognizing what is physically in front of us. It can also describe understanding.

Read With More Than Your Eyes

A familiar passage of Scripture can look different after you have lived through something new.

You read it again and notice a sentence you passed over a hundred times. A verse you understood intellectually suddenly meets you personally. The words have not changed. You have.

That is one reason I believe in returning to Scripture rather than assuming that because we have read something once, we have exhausted it.

Fear Changes What We See

Fear can make a problem look like the only thing in the room.

Faith does not require pretending the problem is not there. It changes where we stand while looking at it.

John 16:13 speaks of the Spirit of truth guiding believers into truth. For me, that is a reason to approach Scripture and life prayerfully - asking God for wisdom rather than assuming my first interpretation, first fear or first reaction must be the whole picture.

See with your HEART

We do not know the entire story from where we are standing. In the Bible, the famous Apostle Paul prayed "that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance..." Ephesians 1:18. 

We cannot see everything God sees. But we can choose where we direct our attention.

Toward fear or faith. Despair or hope. Constant noise or quiet prayer. Our own limited perspective or a willingness to ask God to help us see differently.

Inspired by 1 Timothy 1:17, an old hymn calls God 'Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.' I love the prayer at the heart of it: help us to see.

Maybe that is the simplest prayer for spiritual eyes.

Open my eyes. Help me see.

Good in. Good out.

Love yourself, as yourself. Gal. 5:14®