Eyes Wide Open

“By now Balaam realized that the Lord was determined to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he turned and looked out toward the wilderness, where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,  and this is the message he delivered: “This is the message of Balaam son of Beor, the message of the man whose eyes see clearly, the message of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:” – Numbers 24: 1-4

Throughout God’s Word you can read the word EYE.  But if you’ll notice, it has two meanings.  Most commonly, we hear of the physical eye with which we see.  Exodus 21:24 refers to “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, and the story of Samson in Judges 16 talks about how the Philistines gouged out his eyes.  Yes, our eyes are very important to our wellbeing, but perhaps not as important as the second type of “eye”.

If you read through the Bible carefully, you will find that the eye also refers to spiritual knowledge revealed.  Back as far as Genesis 3:5 Satan told Eve that “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it” referring to the fruit of the forbidden tree.  They were already seeing, but not spiritually.  Psalms 119:18 speaks of these eyes of the soul saying “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.”  Balaam speaks in Numbers 24 after the Holy Spirit rested on him that God has given him “eyes wide open” that He would bless Israel.  The book of Revelation uses the phrase “and I saw” ten times in John’s description of the vision of Heaven he saw.  While he did not see with physical eyes, God allowed him to see it with spiritual eyes.  I Corinthians 2:9 speaks of what Heaven will be like and says ““Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

The singular “eye” is the spiritual eye.  Jesus says in Matthew 6:22 “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” The very next verse speaks of the eye being evil and the body in turn being dark, pointing to the spiritual eye and light is a metaphor for wisdom.

With our spiritual eye, we can see things far greater than the physical one can show us.  Spiritual sight comes through faith when God’s grace provides it.  Sometimes it comes in the chaos of life that we could not otherwise overcome.  Sometimes it’s as simple as a deep belief that is so strong that it is established in your heart even before you see it with your eyes, like that of an expectant mother who knows the sex of her child before it’s born without seeing it. 

I’ve been struggling lately with feelings of complacency, depression, lack of passion and problems making decisions.  I’m going through a phase of life that I think we all go through in our careers where we feel the need to make changes.  We want to fulfill God’s plan for our life, and also to see what else is out there for us.  My career has taken some different turns in the past few years, and I’ve seen God’s hand leading me away from what is tried and true.  I’m finally at a point that I believe I can “see” with spiritual eyes what He has in store for me.  Because of that I’m going to put in a lot of time chasing that goal.  I ask for everyone’s prayers as I go through this journey.  I need your prayers for clarity of my spiritual sight.  To walk away from what I know and discover something new is tough.  It’s uncertain.  But God has given me eyes to understand it – eyes wide open. If I find that He does not walk with me through that, then I’ll know that isn’t the path He has chosen for me, and I rest in His promise that He will complete the work He started in me and that He does have a plan for my future both here, and hereafter. 

 

May God give you all eyes wide open.