Something quite extraordinary happens when you’re able to see the world and others through different eyes.
I’m guessing you have paused for a moment when a young child makes an observation about something beautiful that you missed. It’s a moment of revelation, introducing us to something new or something important we may have forgotten. Like the little girl who looked at her mom, no make up, disheveled hair and old sweatshirt, saying, “Mommy, you’re beautiful.” Or the lad who says to his dad, “I want to be like you when I grow up.” Having your first child is like that too. You may be filled with so many questions and doubts. But when your eyes lock with theirs for that first time, when they first hold you in their trusting eyes, something special stirs in your heart, and you want it to stay that way forever.
In his book, Revolution in World Missions, K.P Yohannan tells of a young missionary in India who was badly beaten and left to die on the outskirts of town all because he shared the gospel of Jesus. Looking to the heavens, he asked God to give him the love of Jesus so he could return to the town again with renewed compassion for the people there. Immediately after his prayer, the young missionary said it was like God removed the eyes from his head and replaced them with the eyes of Jesus so he could see the people as Jesus did.
Did you know the same thing happens when we ask God to see through His eyes? For the first time we are able to see grumpy people as people who need God’s grace and truth. Even our enemies, when seen through God’s eyes, become worth our prayers. We look at our stuff and suddenly see things others need. We look at our paycheck and see it is indeed sufficient for our *needs* if we were to “Live simply so others may simply live.”
You know this if you sponsor a child from another country through an organization like Compassion International. As you pray for them and write to them and receive their letters and prayers, you find yourself praying also for their family and community, and their country. You start seeing people around the world through God’s eyes and it changes your vision forever. It’s like putting on a whole new pair of glasses that brings the world into focus in a way you couldn’t have imagined.
Are you tired of seeing the world through jaded glasses that make life look miserable and hopeless? Why not ask God to give you His eyes so you can see others and the world differently… the way they really appear from heaven. Prepare for an extraordinary new look on life!