Elisha knew the young man needed more than calming reassurance; he needed vision... My dear sisters and brothers, you too can pray for the Lord to open your eyes to see things you would not normally see.
Perhaps the most important things for us to see clearly are who God is and who we really are—sons and daughters of heavenly parents, with a “divine nature and eternal destiny.”2 Ask God to reveal these truths to you, along with how He feels about you. The more you understand your true identity and purpose, soul deep, the more it will influence everything in your life.
Jesus Christ sees people deeply. He sees individuals, their needs, and who they can become. Where others saw fishermen, sinners, or publicans, Jesus saw disciples; where others saw a man possessed by devils, Jesus looked past the outward distress, acknowledged the man, and healed him.
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest … most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. … There are no ordinary people” (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory [2001], 45–46).
As with all gifts the Father so willingly offers, seeing deeply requires us to ask Him—and then act. Ask to see others as He does—as His true sons and daughters with infinite and divine potential. Then act by loving, serving, and affirming their worth and potential as prompted. As this becomes the pattern of our lives, we will find ourselves becoming “true followers of … Jesus Christ.”8 Others will be able to trust our hearts with theirs. And in this pattern we will also discover our own true identity and purpose.
Elisha knew the young man needed more than calming reassurance; he needed vision... My dear sisters and brothers, you too can pray for the Lord to open your eyes to see things you would not normally see.