My Eyes Can See

Post date: Jul 7, 2017 2:55:55 PM

 One of my favorite pastimes is art collecting. My wife and I enjoy attending local galleries where we can view paintings by a host of different artists. During a recent visit I was admiring a print that depicted the images of several palomino ponies and their native riders. It was the native theme that first attracted me to the piece but while admiring it I discovered something that I hadn’t seen before. The artist had incorporated a technique that used color and scenery to camouflage hidden images of natives. The additional images would have remained undetected by me had I not stopped to review it.   

 Psalm 119:33-35…Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

 For the past 40 years, following my conversion, the Holy Bible has become one of my closest and most trusted companions but this has not always been the case. Prior to this time, it remained unexplored, hidden from view and buried deep within a cupboard drawer. There were many times during my youth and teenage years that I was compelled to read but I chose to ignore the promptings and was easily sidetracked choosing to pursue other more pressing matters. If I knew what I know now the decisions that I made then would have been much different.  

Psalm 116: 5-8…Gracious is the Lord, and righteous: Yes our Lord is compassionate. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and he saved me, Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.

In the first 22 years of life I experienced three occasions when I almost died. One was a carbon monoxide poisoning, the second a potential stabbing and finally there was a near fatal 18 foot backwards fall to a concrete floor. Each was life threatening but of the three the fall was the most severe. The whole incident unfolded within a matter of seconds when I fell backward from a catwalk plunging downward toward the floor. My head was positioned to strike first but in an unexplainable millisecond of time, as if in a dream, the whole scenario changed. My body positioning suddenly became upright so that it was no longer my head but my feet that struck the floor first. The injuries that I sustained were comparatively minor but the miracle that occurred has remained etched in my memory forever. 

Psalms 34: 4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

In the first few days following the accident I replayed the event over and over in my mind wondering how it was humanly possible for me to have sidestepped disaster. The only scenario that made sense was one that included a spiritual intervention but it was hard for me to accept this possibility since I had been questioning God’s credibility having been scarred by tragedy in the past. In my mind the evidence to support a divine intervention finally outweighed the possibility of a survival by human effort so I took the first step by turning my back on mistrust. I then started to read the bible for the first time.  

Hebrews 11: 1 …Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.     

It was awkward for me at first to be reading scripture but then as I persisted it seemed that every word that I read was being lapped up by my soul like water into dry ground. This God inspired book that I had all but discarded was now beaming with life, pulling at my heartstrings and grabbing my attention. It was as if a window had been opened into heaven where I could see Jesus willingly and compassionately healing and restoring lives. This spiritual nourishment that Jesus was ministering is what my thirsty soul (emotions) had been craving all along. Now that I could see that it was within my grasp hope was ballooning within me.  

Hebrews 11: 6…But without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. 

Finally, here is a real cool observation worth considering. God spared my life, restored my trust and then gave me hope. This all happened before He became my Savior. The impact that this had on me is immeasurable. I felt no guilt or condemnation only mercy. With just a drop of faith I reached out and accepted His gift of Jesus being my Lord and Savior. God's’ word doesn’t change, I did! God's’ character is revealed through Jesus, His Word, in the bible. It was necessary for me to slow down and look for Him just as I had done in the art gallery. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest anyone should boast.”