“I see men as trees, walking,” the man replied.
He did see something. But just because he was seeing, it didn’t mean he was seeing accurately.
We often do that same thing. We see something. But I hear God asking us that same question.
“But what do you see?”
A famous violinist, Joshua Bell, donned a T-shirt and baseball cap and walked into a subway station. He pulled out his 3.5 million dollar violin, and played Bach’s 14-minute “Chaconne”, generally considered to be the single greatest solo violin work and one of the greatest musical compositions ever created.
It was played on one of the finest instruments the world has ever known, the so-called “Gibson ex Huberman” Stradivarius, made in 1713.
Many people would easily pay $100 or more for a seat at one of his concerts.
But here, in the subway, he seemed like a common street performer.
He didn’t have a big billboard or a sign saying: “greatest musician ever playing now!”
Because of that, almost nobody recognized him.
After 45 minutes of playing. Joshua Bell earned $32.
God is the same way. Many people don’t even believe God is real.
He is right here, moving among us every day. He’s even greater than Joshua Bell.
But because he doesn’t have a giant billboard or sign saying: “God did this!” or “God is moving!”, we often don’t recognize His hand.
That’s what the Bible means about spiritual blindness.
So many little things can blind us–like those commuters rushing by on the subway station, hurrying to their jobs or to a coffee stand or other things.
What do you see?
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
Someone said God made our eyes as dark irises on a white background because it makes it easier for others to discern what we’re focused on, which tells others where our hearts are.
We do not see the world as it is, but as we are. We often see the world as obstacles to our goal.
If our goal is pure, we’ll see God. That’s why it says in the Bible, “the pure in heart shall see God”.
If you aren’t seeing God today, you don’t have a pure heart. That’s simple!
A few years ago, a woman stopped and gave me a card through car window. I didn’t really get a good look at her face.
She drove away when I opened up the card. I realized she had given me her number and asked me out for coffee.
I was totally baffled. I couldn’t even remember what she looked like.
I told my friends, who were there when she left.
Later, after I left, my friends swore that same car came back.
A beautiful young woman stepped out with lots of questions about my business and me.
My friend was really impressed. He said: “if you don’t if you don’t reach out to her on that number, I will!”
I usually don’t have women giving me their number.
I kept racking my brain, trying to remember exactly what she look like. It had been such a quick exchange.
The next day, I called the number and agreed to meet with her.
If nothing else, I wanted to know who this mystery woman truly was.
Was she really this beautiful woman that my friend described?
As we kept talking, I found out she was actually thirteen years older than I was and divorced. This turned my stomach.
Later, however, I felt God’s still small voice challenging me on the exchange.
“What did you see? She’s been rejected much like you in this life. She’s been hurt. She was needing help, and I brought her to you so you could speak to her. But you weren’t looking for Me.”
My romantic fantasy blinded me to God moving. That romantic fantasy was my: “men as trees walking”.
Another time, a man came up with twenty questions for me.
I got annoyed with him. All I saw was a weirdo. Maybe he was on drugs. I didn’t really want to answer his questions. I thought he was really nosy.
Later, I found out that I had gone and given me $100 tip, which is one of the biggest tips I’ve ever gotten.
God used that $100 to expose my heart. Wherever he was at in life, his heart had been to bless me.
My heart had just been to get rid of him.
God asked me that same question:
“Did you not see the person that I brought you to care for? What did you see?”
Someone said, “if you don’t see God in the little miracles, he won’t see the big miracles.”
Even the disciples were needing their eyesight to constantly be readjusted.
When Jesus was describing how he would suffer and be crucified, all Peter saw was the Christ, the Son of the living God, going through pain. “Far be it from you!” Peter exclaimed.
Peter thought he was going to save Jesus.
But because he wasn’t keeping his eyes on God, Peter had unknowingly become satanic.
Jesus told Peter: “get behind me, satan: you are an offense to Me, for you savor not the things be of God, but those that be of men.”
Judas didn’t think that he was actually betraying Jesus or he wouldn’t have committed suicide when he watched the Prince of Peace being crucified.
I bet he was thinking he could just make some extra cash off of Jesus’ ability as an escape artist.
But because he didn’t keep his eyes on what God was doing, Judas didn’t realize what spirit he had.
Judas didn’t keep his eyes on the Lord, so satan was able to use him the same way satan used Peter.
What do you see? A toxic work environment or hard relationships at home?
When we see through Heaven’s eyes, everything becomes a different vision.
We get to see God’s hand working in all of it, and it’s refreshing.
As we continue to dwell in the Word, we can truly have that mind which was in Christ Jesus.
Then we can see through His eyes. As we see through His eyes, it turns the mundane into the miraculous.
When we see Him as He is, we’ll be like Him.
That’s a promise worth contending for!
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