Ephesians 1:18
“I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.”
It's been a busy week in which I've had little time to journal. It's good to be back. Paul prays for others. He had a shepherd's heart. He walked around with concerns for many flocks in which he often prayed. This is a habit we should adopt. As we grow in Christ we get similar concerns. We need to pray for people. Paul thought about what they needed; today's verse is one of those prayers. We should also think about others and their needs.
His first thought is praying that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened. I can't say I've heard that analogy, about "the eyes of their hearts". It makes sense though. The heart and brain are control organs. How we are doing is based on our hearts and how it's doing. Many factors contribute to this: our feelings, happiness, our health, our relationships and how they are doing, our situations, our family, our relationship with God, our health, the efforts we put in to things and so on.
Paul's prayer is mainly focusing on our relationship with God. We will never grasp all there is to know about God. It is to be ever increasing. "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are but dust", (Psalm 103:14). He has an IEP for all of us (an Individual Education Plan). While it's not to bring us up to grade level on math, more so things about knowing God, character issues and so on.
When some think about God, they think He wants way more than He does, so they get intimidated and avoid Him. Jesus's words in Matthew 11:28-30 inform us about what He wants for us all: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”
These words are a good barometer to determine what's of God. If it doesn't feel restful, comfortable and light, then it may not be of God. Guilt and shame aren't from God.
What might be in God's IEP for us? No one knows us better than Him, not even us. He will shed light on areas we may not even have thought of. It's all incremental and good. Revelation 3:20 says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with Me." While I see that to mean what happens when one accepts Christ, another continuous meaning may also apply. When the Lord is in our lives, He wants to be part of all our lives. We don't know that at the start. He will knock on rooms in our lives that we have closed off. He wants to heal us in those areas. They be broken and disabled and a cause of fear and shame. This is how He makes lives whole.
He won't overwhelm us with too much knowledge. The Lord knows what we can handle. Moses asked to see Him. His response was to cover Moses' eyes until He passes by. He took away His Hand, allowing Him to see His back. To see too God in all His glory would have been too much. The enlightening that God does for us will be good. Just as God protected Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Life, He won't show us too much.
He may increase our patience or compassion; He may show us ways in which He blesses us, He may show us where to improve and so on. Proverbs 4:18 says, "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday." This is what God does. There will be the difficulties, but in whole our lives become brighter and brighter.
Lord thank You for opening the eyes of our hearts. All of the marvelous journeys You've taken us on. the incredible healing You've done. We can look back and recall wonderful things. Thank You, God.