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She flung herself across the bed and broke down in tears of frustration. Some years back James Moore shared a wonderful story that appeared in an Atlanta newspaper. A young mother was trying to get her young son to take some medicine. But he stubbornly refused. He closed his mouth as tightly as he could, shook his head furiously from side to side and even hit the spoon with both hands. He wasn't going to take the medicine. This young mother tried everything. She pleaded, begged, even threatened–all to no avail. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. Exasperated, she threw down the spoon and stormed out of the room. Reaching her bedroom, she flung herself across the bed and broke down in tears of frustration and helplessness.
In a few minutes, however, she heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Curious about what was happening, she wiped the tears from her eyes and made her way in the direction of the giggles. Entering the room, she discovered her mother had solved the problem. She had mixed orange juice with the medicine and poured it into a water pistol and was squirting it into the mouth of her delighted grandson.
Just imagine if you and I could likewise look at a problem in a different way. In fact, often in life it isn't what we see, but how we see it that really matters.
Paul discovered that in his own life and wrote to the Christians in Ephesus encouraging them to discover that, as well.
15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also 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 in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe (Ephesians 1:15-19).
That's an interesting phrase: "...that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened . . ." In other words, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord . . .", as a popular praise song goes.
If we could step back from our lives, and look at them with new eyes, we'd see opportunities and needs we might not be aware of. That's what Haddon did. The late, great preacher and professor of preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Haddon Robinson, started life in a poor, isolated neighborhood in New York City. Mousetown, as Haddon's neighborhood was called, was the kind of place where few opportunities existed. Residents of Mousetown rarely ventured beyond their own neighborhood. Their culture and expectations kept them cut off from the rest of New York and its possibilities. At the age of fifteen, Haddon Robinson got the opportunity to visit a cousin in Pennsylvania. The visit itself didn't change his life. But as Haddon returned home, he saw his old neighborhood with new eyes. For the first time he noticed the garbage in the streets. Suddenly, the sound of the el-train seemed like thunder to him. He saw his surroundings as unpleasant and dirty, and he knew he didn't have to live like that anymore. Soon Haddon ventured out of Mousetown to attend a Sunday School. This gave him an even greater vision for escaping his neighborhood. And escape he did, to college and graduate school, and great prestige and success in the world. And it all started with a change in scenery, which prompted a change in vision, which transformed Haddon Robinson's life.
Haddon Robinson had to get away from Mousetown before he could see it as it really was. That's also true in our individual lives. We need to see ourselves as others see us. There may be possibilities which we might not even be aware of. Even more importantly, we need to see ourselves as Christ sees us. If we could somehow see ourselves as Christ sees us and how we go about our work, how we treat family members and co-workers, how much of our time is spent constructively -- it might make us new people. Open the eyes of our heart, Lord . . .
The truth is our lives are largely determined by how we see ourselves and how we see our limitations. I understand a ski instructor once told a class of intermediate skiers to ski in their usual way while he videotaped each of them going down a hill. When they finished this exercise, he then took them back up the hill and gave them only one instruction: "Now, ski the way you'd like to ski by the end of the course." He videotaped their second run. Then he compared the two films. In most cases, the students all skied significantly better the second time. And yet they hadn't even started the lessons yet. They hadn't received any instruction, nor had they practiced. The improvement was based on only one thing: a vision in their mind's eye of what they wanted to look like. What you see is what you get.
How do you and I see ourselves and our possibilities? When we look at the future, how hopeful are we? I'm always amazed when I see young people who are so discouraged about life. Don't they see the world of opportunity that surrounds them? Even preachers struggle with this at times. One of the greatest preachers, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, became so discouraged as a young man that he attempted suicide. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful. And he went on to help millions of people and to inspire a generation of preachers. But it can happen. Our vision can get skewed to the point where all we can see is darkness all around. Yet, if we could somehow see ourselves as Christ sees us, we could see that our problems are only like the morning fog. Above the fog, the sun is still shining. By hanging in there, we'll catch a new vision of what God can do with our lives.
Some of us, however, are approaching the end of life. Aging isn't easy. Sometimes all we can see are shadows. But Christ reminds us that the reason we're so aware of the shadows is that behind them the light of God's glory is shining. This world is not our home. Eventually all of us, like Christ, will be united with those we love and with God. Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, open the eyes of our hearts. May that be our prayer. May God help us see Christ high and lifted up and help us to know that, as he is, so shall we be someday.
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.