Seeing Through God's Eyes

After forty-three years my husband and I are still married.  Oh, not because we’re more in love than anyone else, or that we have less faults, or that our lives have been free of the common bumps that foul everyone’s road. No, we’re still married because we’re tied as a three stand cord with Jesus—a cord not easily broken, and that means He’s not about to let us off the hook that easily. 

Let’s face it, if the right buttons are pressed, we can all be selfish, mean spirited, petty.  Being a believer doesn’t exempt anyone.  We are, after all, still flesh, and flesh dies hard. But there’s noting like marriage to help the process.  And after so many years, my husband and I are at a point where most of the time we calmly settle our differences by talking them through.

But there are still times when my dander gets up, and emotions get the best of me. I’m right.  He’s wrong.  It’s obvious.  Only, why can’t he see it?  When I get that way, I know it’s time to talk to the Lord. It’s something I’ve learned over the years, and something that works every time.  I ask the Lord two things: to let me see the situation through His eyes. To let me see my husband through His eyes. What an argument killer that is!  Inevitably, I begin to see another side of the issue. And I begin to see the stress or frustration that made my husband react in a certain way, or begin to understand the underlying reasons for his point of view. 

I tell you, it’s turned my head around more than once, and taken the sting out of an argument, enabling me to humble myself and apologize.  Nothing else floods my heart with love faster than this, or washes away the anger. I think it’s one of my most valuable tools in my “marriage wellness” arsenal. But notice, this is one sided.  It doesn’t hinge on my husband seeing the “error of his ways.” No. No correction on his part is necessary.  And that might rub some people the wrong way.  It may not seem fair.  But consider this.  As soon as I show my husband that I understand his position, then he suddenly begins to understand mine. And suddenly there’s a meeting of the minds. I love how God works. His ways are so much higher than ours. 

I don’t know why it took me so long to apply this to other areas, but lately I’ve begun asking Him to show me other things through His eyes too.  Things like the hardships that come along in my life, the disappointments, the suffering. And it’s amazing how I suddenly see things in a different light. It often brings the “eternal” more in focus rather than the “now”.  I still have a long way to go in this area, but I’m learning that here too, His eyesight is so much better than mine. 

Until next week,

Sylvia