What Is It That You See?

Devotion Of The Week

James Miklos

“Jeremiah, what do you see?” (Jeremiah 1:11).  The Lord asked Jeremiah this question in the midst of experiencing a vision from the Lord.  If you ever have had a vision then you may understand the the peculiarity of this question.  It would be like me showing you a picture or a clip of a video and asking you, “What is it that you see?”

Our eyes are a beautiful gift from God, seeing is an amazing thing.  Our eyes give us vision which enables us to enjoy creation and give us the ability to understand, perceive, relax or protect.  Our eyes are a gift from God. “I will praise You, for I am fearfullyandwonderfullymade; Marvelous are Your works…” (Psalm 139:14).  For better understanding how our eyes help us to better understand here are some fun facts:

  • The eye has 2 million working parts.
  • 80% of our memory comes from what we see.
  • The human eye can see 7 million colours by its 250,000 colour decoding cones.
  • Human eyes (plus dogs) are the only living beings on earth that can see and seek visual cues from another individual’s eyes.
  • Human eyes are the second most complex organ after the brain.
  • Humans can see from approximately 100 feet.
  • We can also focus on objects just from a few inches from our face.
  • The retina takes the light that comes in and changes it into nerve signals so that our brain can understand what our eyes are seeing.

Yet, in spite of this ability and beauty humans can have difficulty understanding or perceiving what it is that they may see or even hear.  There are some physiological issues in the brain that may impair this, but for many this is not the case.  Often we humans do not understand or perceive.  Why?  Let’s see what scripture has to tell us:

Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? (Matthew 16:9 NLT)

Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Matthew 16:9 ESV

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ” (Mark 4:10-12 NKJV)

We see in scripture where the Lord tests ones ability to see, perceive, and understand.  This is a condition of a person’s heart.  Seeing and understanding has to do with the softness or hardness of the heart of a person.  The level of humility, submission to the Lord, and faith in God.  Let me give you some scriptures to substantiate this.

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” (John 12:40 ESV)

For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:52 ESV)

Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. (Mark 16:14 ESV)

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. (Ephesians 4:18 ESV)

The Lord’s desire is for us to see him, his ways, to understand and walk in his ways.

Here is what we can do:

  1. Humble ourselves and submit to him according to his word (scriptures).
  2. Repent and confess sins where needed.
  3. Serve the Lord the way he wants to be served not the way we want to serve him.
  4. Develop teachableness without resistance to the will of God.
  5. Be tender hearted.
  6. Love what God loves and hate what God hates.
  7. Grow your faith in God though the hearing and doing of God’s word.
  8. Pray and seek the Lord for greater spiritual sight.

In conclusion we need to seek the Lord and pray Ephesians 1:17-21 regularly with all fervency.

 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

Let us humble ourselves and believe so that we can see!

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