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        Eye-Opener

        150 150 Journey Church

        It was a real eye-opener. One day when I came home from work I said to Sue Ann, “I see it!” It was something Sue Ann had seen for quite some time but I had not.

        We were about eight years into our marriage and about three years into a time of relational strain and distance. Every now and then during those years Sue Ann would talk to me about the problems in our marriage—we weren’t communicating, we weren’t connecting, there wasn’t much of a relationship going on. My response usually went along the lines of, “I don’t see it.” Our marriage had started off well, but after two miscarriages and the birth of our first child we found ourselves at a different place. Despite these significant events, I had just kept chugging along like nothing had happened. This created painful distance between Sue Ann and me.

        But then the light came on. I saw it. I saw that, yes, we did have problems, problems that needed addressing. How did the light switch get flipped from “off” to “on”? By the hand of God. Sue Ann simply prayed, “God, open Tom’s eyes.” He did, and, in fact, quite soon after Sue Ann asked! When I came home saying “I see it” it was unmistakable that God had answered Sue Ann’s prayer. By God’s grace that was a turning point in our marriage. We began to work together to communicate and connect … to build a deeper relationship.

        Truth be told, all of us need our eyes opened. We all have blind spots—deficiencies in our lives we don’t see but others do. Habits and traits that push others away and offend. If you are ready for an adventure in life change, ask God to open your eyes. Pray, “Lord, open my eyes,” about a specific area of your life and see what God will do.

        Jesus is the master eye-opener. The gospel writer Mark tells us how Jesus opened the eyes of two blind men, an unnamed man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26) and Bartimaeus in Jericho (Mark 10.46-52). Mark’s goal in giving us these accounts was not only to show that Jesus has power over physical blindness but to show that Jesus’s followers need Him to heal them from their spiritual blindness. They just didn’t “get it.” Case in point: Peter. Right after Jesus heals the blind man in Bethsaida, Peter makes the bold confession that Jesus is the Messiah but then he immediately goes on to try to dissuade Jesus from going to the cross (Mark 8: 27-33). Peter needed his eyes opened, too. He needed to see that Messiah was God’s Suffering Servant. Peter didn’t get it. We don’t get it.

        It is always the right time to say to Jesus what blind Bartimaeus said to Him: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” and “Rabbi, I want to see.” But it does seem especially timely now. We are in the season where we remember the passion of Jesus and His glorious resurrection. We need Him to open our eyes to who He really is and what He has done for us. We may be blinded by the familiarity of it all and need a fresh and clearer glimpse of our great Savior.

        “Lord, open my eyes.”

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