THE SEEING EYE
As I sat in Church at Bible Study, I noticed a seeing-eye dog that demonstrated blind obedience to its master. The decrescendo of the music was interpreted as time to leave the sanctuary so the dog stood to lead his master out. Just then, the lead singer belted out another song. The owner then patted the dog and he sat again and waited. I thought, hmm, there is a lesson here: not about a seeing –eye dog, but about the “Seeing Eye”.
An unknown author once penned the following words: “Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation.” What if we would see Him?
Mark 6:45-54 (NKJV)
45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.53 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,
1. (vv. 45-47) Jesus prompted His disciples to get into a ship and sail to Bethsaida, about three and one half miles away. Obediently, they started to sail and everything went well at first. Everything was going as could be expected. After all, they were in God’s will, heading for their God-directed destination. They were familiar with that environment so imagine how their confidence piqued. The sea was calm. They could fish if they chose to. There were no other ships…no competition! What ecstasy! What security! They were half-way there! They probably made plans for all the things that could happen in Bethsaida.
2. (v. 48) Then nature became uncooperative. Fishing was not easy anymore. They had difficulty rowing in the strong winds. Life began to propel them against the grain of their comfort zone. The winds of adversity blew, BUT Jesus saw them. He allowed them to exhaust their efforts. They could not see Him watching them because they were focused on the storm. How ironic that was!
Sometimes circumstances (oppression, anxiety, discomfort and/or other contrary forces) obscure our view of the Master. He did not show Himself in the First Watch (6:00PM-9:00PM), the Second Watch (9:00PM-12:00AM), nor the Third Watch (12:00AM-3:00AM). The short distance was taking more than nine hours already. By then, they knew that their only hope was divine help. Although they did not see Him, we can imagine them shouting like the blind man at Bethsaida, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy…”
When life retards our progress and would seemingly abort our mission, we need our seeing-eye. We all have it. God has given to everyone a measure of faith (Rom.12:3b) and that is the Christian’s seeing-eye.
3. (v.48) About the Fourth Watch, (3:00AM-6:00AM …joy comes in the morning) when, without a doubt, despair had set in, Jesus showed up, but with a little humor. He was about to walk right past them. The only thing they knew was that they were about to lose their life in the storm and things were getting worse. What a time for a ghost to show up! They all saw it and were scared. They did not recognize Him although they had spent lots of time with Him. There is seeing and there is the seeing-eye.
In not recognizing Him, we become perplexed. Their questions may have been: Did Jesus not instruct us to get in the boat? Did we not understand what He said? Did He not know that there would be a storm when we had almost reached our destination? Why would He put us out on a limb when all we were doing was what He told us to do?
We may also echo those questions when we don’t understand what He is doing in our life. Don’t despair. Keep good courage. He will be seen by us when we hear His words, (v.50) Be of good cheer! It is I. Do not be afraid. (2Cor. 4:7-9) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
4. (Vv. 51-53) Jesus got into the boat and the wind stopped and the disciples were amazed. How do we get from nearly being overcome by the storm to amazement and wonder? This is possible through divine intervention only. When we recognize that Jesus is involved in our situation, that He is in our “ship”, we can, with assurance, step into the path that leads to our destination/purpose.
5. (v.54) When Jesus and the disciples got to land, the people saw Him for who He was to them: the miracle worker; one of the prophets; the Great Physician; and Master Teacher. We too can see Jesus. See Him for who He has been to us: Savior; Healer; Baptizer; Deliverer; Provider; Strength; Comfort; Guide among other attributes.
In the midst of problems, endeavor to use the seeing-eye to recognize that He is leading us into our destiny. He is always with us. Remember, above all else, He, our Seeing Eye is coming again. Look up! Keep your eyes on Jesus. Trust the “Seeing Eye.”
REFLECTION
1. God sees us where we are, but do we see Him where He is?
2. The excellence of His power lies in our seeing-eye. Discuss.
Dr. O. A. James