OPEN MY EYES

Red skies at morning, sailors take warning, red skies at night, sailors delight.

As a lake-bound sailor in North Texas I’ve always imagined what it would be like to sail on open water. To have only the instruments to lead me or better yet to be skilled enough to navigate by the stars at night. I would love to know the competence to find a destination with a map and a compass. Truth be told, I get lost without GPS in my own city!

Jesus responded to the Pharisees request for a sign from heaven. They were pretenders just like me but without the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to who He was. What would a group of Torah-trained academics know about weather outcomes on the Mediterranean? They wouldn’t have known how to navigate an ocean, but they would have known the phrase; ‘When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ Jesus was outwardly frustrated that those who studied about Him all their lives but could not see who it was speaking to them. The God who directs the weather, who had just fed several thousand for the second time, who heals the blind, mute, demon possessed, lame and raised the dead; It is the Savior standing right in front of them and all they see is a man and ask for a sign. It is no wonder that Jesus, in frustration, states, “none will be given.”

Do I run the same risk? Do I drive right by the signs Jesus has left all around me? Am I working so hard to formulate my test for Him that I miss all the evidence that surround me? Do I spend my time buried in His Book but never see Him? I know the impact of the weather and how to read the sky at night and in the morning, but, am I listening to the One who made the weather, sky, night, and morning? He is LORD. His Word shouts His presence and His power. I better not miss Him in my seeking for evidence of His Deity.

Lord, open my eyes to Your leading all around me and equip me to see You at work around, though, and in me. Amen