SOMETIMES IT IS NOT WHAT YOU SEE WITH THE EYE
Father in the name of Jesus I come before You and honour You as my God, the one and only God who is alive. Jesus Christ thank you for saving me, I love You and worship You with all of my heart. Holy Spirit thank you for living inside of me, always being my guide and directing me in the way I should go. I am nothing without You in my life. Amen!
So often we experience something for the first time and then it is either wonderful or disappointing. I remember when I was a teenager and in love for the first time. It always looked wonderful when others were holding hands and as a young girl, I longed for that feeling of being in love. However, I realised that once it happened to me, it did not really excite me as I thought it would. I remember my first kiss at the age of 16 and I remember being so disappointed. Only years later, meeting my one true love whom I am now married to, did I experience the wonderful feeling of loving someone so deep that it hurts and receiving a love back that words cannot explain, making me the focus of that person’s attention, not to get anything from me but just to be with me. One topic…..love, and two different viewpoints coupled to emotions that made me realise that sometimes things are not as you see with the eye.
I want to share with you the time when we as a family went on holiday to a different country. After a great deal of excitement and planning we went on our road trip and saw nature in a completely different, yet wonderful way. In the same trip, we planned a visit to my husband’s hometown. He had so many tales to tell such wonderful memories of his high school years which he wanted to share with us whilst driving through town. We had a lot of expectations but when we got there, the disappointment was very clear. It looked nothing like the photos we saw; and the special places that was so much alive when they visited it as children, were neglected and some standing in ruins.
I realised on that trip, just like I realised as a young girl, that sometimes things are not what you see with the eye. In the case of love, I had to first experience true love before I could see the real beauty thereof. It was not something seen with the eye…..it is something seen with the heart. In the case of the visit to my husband’s hometown, we saw with the eye buildings in ruins and where things were once alive, buzzing with children’s play, it was now quiet and the town looked “dead.” However, that night we slept over by very friendly people and we realised that these families now living in this town are building their own memories.
Yes, it might not be in the same municipal swimming pool or sportsgrounds, but they have built new ones which is enjoyed by the people that are now living there. I realised that in this case it was again not what was seen with the eye that mattered at all. Yes, it was not like before, but more than twenty years have passed and daily things, people and life change. The good memories of the past is there and they are good, we should not try relive them as it will never be the same. As times changes, new people move into the same areas and sit under the same trees…..building their own memories.
Dear reader, where am I going with this? Well I have now moved to a new country and the culture and language is completely different. Being here now for almost four weeks, it triggered this article. When you look at the people and the way they talk and do things, one forms an opinion based on what you see. The longer you are here, the more you learn the language and the more you realise that you are only a visitor in their beautiful country, you no longer see with the eye…..you see with the heart. We are all the same. We all have feelings, emotions, challenges and stories to tell. We all go to school, get a job, fall in love, get married, build a family, grow old and ultimately let out our last breath on earth. So again you see differences with the eye, yet when you look deeper with the heart, you see resemblances of one mankind created by God.
To see things with the eye is good, it brings forward a form of reality. In my opinion however, reality is often not what we see with the eye alone, but what is also explored with the heart. So yes, different is good, and to explore different countries and their culture and language broadens our perspective on life. Looking into history we realise that things will never be like yesterday and that is also fine because today and tomorrow, makes new history.
Let me come to why I am sharing all of this with you. The real life examples that I gave you got us all on the same page and therefore, I have a question for you today? When people see you with the eye, do they see what you are really about? No, they can’t unless your life is revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. They will see one thing but when they start to talk to you, start to get to know you, they will begin to see your heart. Proverbs 20 verse 5 says “the purpose of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” Second question then is whether you look at people and make a judgement call or form an opinion about that person without knowing the person’s heart? We read in 1 Samuel 16 verse 7 about how the Lord told Samuel not to consider outward appearance as He Himself does not look at the things man looks at. God looks at the heart and that is how David was chosen.
Now yes, I know that in life we don’t stop and talk to everyone and therefore not everyone in the world will ever know everyone’s heart. However, what about the guy/girl sitting next to you in the train or bus every morning? What about your neighbor, cleaner or gardener? Do you see their hearts? David said in Psalm 139 verses 23 – 24 “search me, O God and know my heart…” You see, everyone tries to hide how they really feel about life and when they hurt, when they show those feelings, the world often regards it as weakness. That tells us that people actually do want others to see their hearts, but not to see them as being weak. As children of God we have a purpose to not just spread the Word of God, but to live it in the way we speak, tell jokes, greet people, giving an extra smile or simply by just helping an old person carry a parcel.
Dear reader, there is so much pain in this world. So many people are unhappy. They get up unhappy, go to work unhappy and go to sleep unhappy. Do we see it or do we just get in the train and go with the flow, minding our own business? I don’t mean you have to talk all the time or have personal conversations if you are not comfortable with it. No, I mean if you see someone and you have the Holy Spirit in you, He will guide you and show those people to you. Then give that smile, sit silently and pray for that person and when led by the Holy Spirit say something uplifting. And to say that you can’t because that is not your personality, then I say if you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit speaks on your behalf and all you need to do is to be willing and available.
Coming to a close, I make the statement again that sometimes it is not what you see with the eye. Look deeper with your heart and live out the gospel of Christ by loving, caring and uplifting people in the Spirit. This message is for everyone, no matter how young or old. Do take time to print this article and to hand it to friends and read it to your loved ones. Let us all make a difference by sharing and taking action.
I hope this article makes you think deeper, dig deeper and see deeper than what you only see with the eye. Start at home with your family and loved ones…..you will be amazed at what you see.
Lots of love
Princess K
PS: Dear reader, please remember that the scripture used are from the New International Version. If the scripture is read in another language and translation it might differ slightly. A verse in the NIV might be a different one in your Bible, i.e. Ps 37:3 in the NIV might be Ps 37:4 in your bible. This does not always occur, but happens in some instances.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.