There were some books that became
popular when I was a child called Magic
Eye. They were these books full of
colorful images that when you looked at them a certain way—crossing your eyes,
or blurring your vision—a hidden image seemingly floating before your eyes
would magically appear, springing forth from the once flat and meaningless page. The mystery was contagious. What images of depth and dimension awaited on
the next pages my fingers would eagerly flip to? It would take a while to train your eyes to see
the hidden pictures, but once you did you couldn’t help but want more.
Right now I feel God is giving me
new eyes—training me to see the hidden opportunities full of unexpected wonder
and excitement all around me. What once
seemed flat and bleak now springs forth with beauty, depth and dimension,
wonder and new life! Growing up in the
church, I learned how to say the right things, think the right thoughts, and
grind out the same behaviors to scrape by in my “Christian duty.” It’s not all that hard for a church kid to
look and act “churchy.” Yet when I look
at God’s word, and see that Jesus spent his time with the down and out, that he
loved those on the fringes of society, that he brought healing and love to the
impoverished—the poor of means, heart
and mind, and that he calls us to love and care for these people as well—carrying
out his great commission to make disciples, and his great commandment to love
him and others with hearts full of abandon…I have begun to see the disconnect
in my life. My Midwest, Minnesota nice
(which in my case was a whole lot of nice…minus any real love), conservative, Scandinavian,
keep-it-to-yourself, Christian culture has not always lined up with my claims
of a transformed heart. I’ve been
staring at the flat page without experiencing the joyous wonder of the hidden
gems that await the hearts of those who embrace the new eyes of Jesus
Christ! 2nd Timothy 1:7 says,
“For
God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and
self-discipline.” Sometimes it’s
hard to look past our own fear…and place of comfort to see the adventure that
awaits.
A few months ago, I found myself
and a few other friends sitting around a table with someone who was down and
out, someone searching for the hope found only in Jesus Christ. This guy wasn’t the type of person I would
normally associate with. In the past, I
would have justified my avoidance on our different backgrounds or
personalities, or that I had other things to be doing for God, but this day I
decided to test the waters, and I jumped full-fledge into my fears, and
embraced a friendship with someone who like me, was broken and in need of God’s
amazing grace. That first day we met
together, we all had tears as our new friend asked God to forgive him and lead
his life down a new path. There has been
no looking back in this new journey—for him or for me. Where I once saw a man worth avoiding—I now
see a dear friend—and a new brother in Christ!
As I hopped in my car after that first meeting together, I asked myself,
“Is this what I’ve been missing? Is this
the joy my fears have kept me from? I
don’t want to miss this ever again!”
Like the hidden pictures of a Magic
Eye, my eyes have now seen the wonder…and I want more!
"The harvest is
so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of
the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields." Matthew
10:38. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to put my gardening gloves
on. I don’t want to miss out in
participating in the joy of the harvest!