Through Your Eyes

                            

I remember the time Recession swept the World. People losing Jobs.  Hope being lost. Questions asked. Faith tested.  People finding it hard to recuperate from the damage when ostracized. People knowing that all hope is lost are constantly bombarded with miscellaneous questions.  Questions like…’What am I going to do now…How am I gonna explain it to my loved ones…Will I ever get a Job…how will I survive tomorrow without a Job?’

As believers we tend up blaming God. ‘God, I was so faithful to you…Why did you let this happen to me…Why did you let something like this come to me…Don’t you Love me anymore…?’ or we just sum up the whole thing with a short ‘WHY?’. That’s what problems do to us I guess. They are best in questioning our faith. They drown us in despair. We think life is not fair. We try to have a debate with our Heavenly Father. We ask Him how could he do such a mean thing to us. How does He allow hurt to creep in our Life. How does He call us His Children and yet let us suffer. How can He say that he loves us so much and yet hurt us so much. How can he see me shattered beyond all reasons. When you look into the mirror you see the surrogate of a failure rather than yourself. These problems are not only the ones which arise due to Jobs. Other problems or troubles which arise in life are equally degrading.

Problems are inevitable in this world of ours. Whenever I think of troubles I am astonished by the Story of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21:8-20. When Sarah asks Abraham to let go of Hagar and Ishmael he prays and lets Go of them when God tells Abraham ‘do whatever Sarah tells you.’ So Hagar and Ishmael were sent away from Abraham. Hagar might have felt that it was the meanest thing that can ever happen to her. She and Ishmael being let go just like that. It says that “She carried all the things given to her with her boy and wandered into the desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under the tree. Then she went off and sat nearby  and thought ‘I cannot watch the Boy die’ she sat there and began to cry.”

Hagar might have felt she had every reason in the world to blame God. She was isolated for no mistake of hers’, left alone at a place where she was watching her lil boy about to die. What else could she do apart from cry. She lost all hope for the situation suddenly rusted the once perfectly molded metal piece, because she had found favor in the eyes of the Lord and bore a child for Abraham once and now suddenly all the world falls apart right in front of her eyes as Abraham lets go of her and now she’s in the desert with a thirsty lil boy with no water. But I loved the story after that. It says, “And an angel of the Lord asks Hagar, ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying there. Help him up and take Him by hand for I will make his descendants into a Great Nation.’” An amazing promise given to Hagar. Right in the midst of trouble the promise to Hagar changes the whole scenario. She has Hope again. In short God asked her to Take Heart for He was with her.

God says, “I will not leave you nor will I EVER forsake You. I am with you.” If God is with us, who can be against us. Our lives might be similar to the trouble Hagar faced. But I promise you, the God who was with Hagar is the same God for us too. He is the same Yesterday, today and FOREVERMORE. He doesn't want us to be just good, but He wants us to be MAGNIFICENT. And His Grace is sufficient for those who trust in Him.

And I ultimately Love the way the story ends. Hagar had faith in what God said. And it goes on to say, “Then God OPENED her eyes and she saw a well of water.” Hope Strikes again. In the realm of sorrow and grief Hope will strike again for those who trust in the Lord. The beauty of that passage is it doesn’t say she opened her eyes to see a well of water but it says, “God OPENED her Eyes.” When God opens your eyes there is hope. Hope to push you for another day. Hope that is enough to carry you till the end. Hope that comes with an assurance, “I AM WITH YOU”. That hope comes when God opens Your Eyes. For You see his inextinguishable glory take form in front of Your Eyes. When God opened Moses’ eyes he seen the splitting of the Red sea. When God opened Joshua’s eyes he seen the walls of Jericho falling down to ruin. When God opened David’s eyes he seen a God who was bigger than Goliath. When God opened Job’s eyes he seen Restoration. When God opened Simeon’s eyes he seen Jesus and said “My Eyes have seen Salvation.” When God opened Paul’s eyes he seen the Strength in Jesus Christ to live yet another day for Him. When God opens your eyes…


Your problem might be as vast as the Red sea but with faith there is always a way. After the way is paved, our troubles might be like the walls of jericho but it was faith that got the mammoth rocks come tumbling down. To face the troubles of the walls of Jericho we need to know our God is a BIG God. When we know Our God is a BIG God our eyes are opened and we see Restoration. When we see Restoration our eyes are opened for the Savior by Faith. When our eyes are opened for the Savior, God helps us to have the strength to live for Him. Our Hope is built on a strong Foundation of Faith. And that Hope comes from the Father...As he opens your Eyes... 

By the roadway in the wilderness He leads me

Rivers in the desert will I see

Heaven and earth may fade

But His Word will Never fail

He will do something New Today

                                                -Don Moen

Still wondering why I’m here
Still wrestling with my fear
But, He’s up to something
And the farther on I go
I’ve seen enough to know
That I’m, not here for nothing
He’s up to something

There is hope for me yet
Because God won’t forget
All the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see
He’s not finished with me yet

                                                - Brandon Heath

Open the eyes of my heart Lord

I want to see You.

                             -Paul Baloche