Take Another Look

Isa 29:10 For the Lord has sent on you a spirit of deep sleep; and by him your eyes, the prophets, are shut, and your heads, the seers, are covered.


To see or not to see. That is the question!


Given the passage from Isaiah, it would seem that the whole matter of perception is sometimes
put beyond our reach. Didn't you ever have one of those moments, when you ask yourself, Why didn't I see that? Ya, like when the wifey tells ya to slow down and as the squad car follows you to the side of the road... you're wonderin' where did he come from?


Here on the Jesus Bus, we have a different way of seeing things. In scripture, it's the notion of seeing through the eyes of faith. This is quite a bit different from the way of the world. In this world, seeing is believing, sorta'.


There's a difference between looking and seeing. Where one set of eyes sees only problems, another set of eyes sees solutions. Did you ever notice that after an event, say, a car crash. If you ask three different bystanders what they saw, you are likely to get three different stories.
It's all a matter of perception. We are trained to see things in a certain light, from earliest age.


When Isaac Newton looked at an apple fall from a tree, he could SEE the working of a universal force of gravity. Apples had been falling from trees since the beginning of time. Why did it take so long for someone to notice?


It's been my experience, that we don't notice the work of the Lord as it happens before our eyes. Given the skeptical training that we receive, under the guise of secularism in the public education system, is it any wonder that we don't pay attention to the events that take place right in front of our nose?


Scripture has something to say about looking and seeing.


2Kings 6:8 At that time the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he had a meeting with the chiefs of his army and said, I will be waiting in secret in some named place.


9 And the man of G-d sent to the king of Israel, saying, Take care to keep away from that place, for the Aramaeans are waiting there in secret.


10 So the king of Israel sent to the place where the man of G-d had said there was danger, and kept clear of it more than once.


11 And at this, the mind of the king of Aram was greatly troubled, and he sent for his servants and said to them, Will you not make clear to me which of us is helping the king of Israel?


12 And one of them said, Not one of us, my lord king; but Elisha, the prophet in Israel, gives the king of Israel news of the words you say even in your bedroom.


13 Then he said, Go and see where he is, so that I may send and get him. And news came to him that he was in Dothan.


14 So he sent there horses and carriages and a great army; and they came by night, circling the town.


15 Now the servant of the man of G-d, having got up early and gone out, saw an army with horses and carriages of war all round the town. And the servant said to him, O my master, what are we to do?


16 And he said in answer, Have no fear;those who are with us are more than those who are with them.


17 Then Elisha made a prayer to the Lord, saying, Lord, let his eyes be open so that he may see. And the Lord made the young man's eyes open; and he saw that all the mountain was full of horses and carriages of fire round Elisha.


One of Jesus' disciples, Thomas, illustrates the problem that we as believers have when we have not yet been able to see that which we have not been able to see before.


John 20:24 Now THOMAS, one of the twelve, named Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.


25 So the other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, If I do not see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and if I do not put my hand into his side, I will never have belief.


26 And after eight days, his disciples were again in the house and THOMAS was with them. Though the doors were shut, Jesus came, and taking his place in the middle of them, he said, May peace be with you!


27 Then he said to THOMAS, Put out your finger, and see my hands; and put your hand here into my side: and be no longer in doubt but have belief.


28 And THOMAS said in answer, My Lord and my G-d!


In scripture we are allowed to look at the things of heaven, while seeing in our surroundings, not only the Creation, but also those elements that define the kingdom of men. Unless our minds and hearts and eyes are tuned in to the right frequency, we will not be able to recognize the kingdom of Heaven. Instead, we will be always distracted by the kingdoms of men.


On the Jesus Bus, there is the benefit of being able to look into the kingdom of heaven. There are better things waiting for us down the road, and in the here and now. Here's what Jesus has to say:


Mt 13:13 For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them.


14 And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you:


15 For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.


16 But a blessing be on your eyes, because they see; and on your ears, because they are open.


17 For truly, I say to you that prophets and upright men had a desire to see the things which you see, and saw them not; and to have knowledge of the words which have come to your ears, and they had it not.


Get on the bus!