“Lord, open our eyes that we may see.”

A thought by Kyle Idleman (2014-03-01) from his book, AHA: The God Moment That Changes Everything (p. 78). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

I’m not sure if we really want that to be true.  Even in our relationships I’m not sure we want to see the whole truth.

Kyle says, “We have a tendency in our relationships— even our closest ones— to speak 95 percent of the truth. We don’t take it the full 100 percent. But that last 5 percent is what really needs to be said. More often than not, the startling realization takes place in the 5 percent of hard truth. All of us need a relationship with someone who has permission to flip the switch we missed.”

He then says, “I recently read an article in the Montreal Gazette about a man named Pierre-Paul Thomas. He was born blind and could only imagine the world that was often described to him. For years he walked with a white cane to avoid obstacles in front of him. But at the age of sixty-six, Thomas fell down the stairs in an apartment building and fractured the bones of his face. He was rushed to the hospital with severe swelling around his eyes. A team of doctors went to work to repair the bones. Months later he went to be examined by a plastic surgeon for a consultation about repairing his scalp. The surgeon casually asked Thomas, ‘Oh, while we’re at it, do you want us to fix your eyes, too?’ Thomas did not understand. Nor did he know how to respond.”

“Not long after that, Thomas had surgery and could truly see for the first time. Suddenly his world consisted of bright colors he had never fathomed before. He spoke of being awestruck by flowers blossoming and trees blooming. As beautiful as this story of a sixty-six-year-old man who was able to see for the first time is, there is a sad reality. He could have had the same surgery at a younger age and been able to see earlier. Thomas had assumed such a possibility was impossible and had resigned himself to a life of blindness when, in reality, he could have experienced the gift of sight decades earlier.”

Kyle goes on, “I don’t want to spend any part of my life missing out on what God wants me to see now. I don’t want to come to my senses in twenty years if God is trying to wake me up now. It may be a desperate moment or a startling realization, but I can’t help but wonder if God is trying to get your attention. Lord, open our eyes that we may see.”

Don’t you really want that too?