Open My Eyes!

This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. The prompt today is “observant.”

I’m not always the most observant of people, mainly because I tend to be lost in thought. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been out walking and not noticed someone I know until I hear them call my name, or the number of people who’ve told me later that they drove by and waved but I didn’t seem to notice them.

I hope people don’t take it personally – I’m just not very observant.

I do want to be observant spiritually though. I want to notice what God is doing, where he is working.

I think of Moses by the burning bush. He noticed something unusual, and it was only when he stepped closer to investigate that God spoke to him. What if he hadn’t noticed? Would God have got his attention some other way? I doubt we’ll ever know.

I’ve just finished a study on the book of Esther, and I have been struck again by how even though God’s name is never mentioned, his work is so evident. Time and time again there are “coincidences” that reveal his work behind the scenes.

And I’m struck by Mordecai, who didn’t know exactly how it was going to work out but seemed to be observant enough to suspect that God was doing something.

“Mordecai sent this reply to Esther, “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all the other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance will arise from some other place but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14 NLT)

It challenges me to keep a lookout for where God is working because I don’t want to miss it. Sometimes we can’t see clearly, but there is just a hint of his hand behind our circumstances that causes us to stop and draw close.

“I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” (Isaiah 43:19 NLT)

Lord, open my eyes so that I don’t miss what you are doing!