He Keeps Our Eyes Open

“Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” (Ps 77:4 AV)

In other words, the LORD does not allow the writer to close his eyes to the reality of his situation.  He holds his eyelids in the condition of being awake.  One might think this is cruel, but there is a purpose for this.  Our inclination is to close our eyes and ignore our trouble thinking that doing so will make it go away or at the very least, to make the situation better.  The problem with this inclination does not make the circumstances that cause the trouble go away.  It is still there.  Turning a blind eye to our troubles can often make it worse.  If we turn a blind eye, we are not reacting or handling the situation so as the fix the circumstances that cause the trouble, to begin with.  There are other reasons why the LORD may want to keep our eyes open to our troubles.  If we have our eyes closed, we cannot see how the LORD is working.  If we have our eyes closed, our ability to exercise faith is diminished.  Having our eyes closed slows the process of maturity.  There is a good reason for the LORD to keep our eyes open to our troubles.

How many times have we been in close calls?  We drive around and times and again, there is a potentially dangerous situation that comes head-on.  We swerve.  We correct.  We avoid a most certain crash.  That wouldn’t have happened if we went into the hazard with our eyes closed.  I am not one to keep my eyes closed unless I know how a situation is going to pan out.  Put me on a roller coaster and I will ride with my eyes clamped tighter than a clam.  I know I will be alright.  To watch what is coming means I tense up and make the experience all the more painful.  However, for the most part, I keep my eyes open.  Just a few weeks ago, I almost met my demise.  A car was racing up the street right towards me.  I saw the whole thing unfold in slow motion even though the car of concern was traveling more than fifty miles an hour.  Without belaboring the details, the offending SUV blew a red light and was beginning to lose control.  He was swerving and there was no time for me to react.  If I opened the car door to hop in, he would have taken the car door off.  If I tried to move, I would have become a moving target which the driver would have tracked, possibly causing him to serve in my direction.  All I could do was to make myself as small as possible and hug my car.  This driver came without three feet of hitting me.  If struck, I would not have survived. 

What to do?  Do I close my eyes and hope for the best?  To I close my eyes and wonder if I will make it?  Nope.  The eyes stayed open.  I would rather see what is coming than wonder about all the possibilities.  We may not like seeing what is coming.  But the LORD wants us to grow.  Ignoring things means we do not need to change.  If we do not change, then we do not grow.  If we do not grow, we cannot grow in intimacy towards the LORD as much as we could.  The grownup faces his problems head-on.  He does not bury his head in the sand and wish it all away.  One more reason why the LORD may keep our eyes open is that we might pray our trouble all the way through.  The more we see it, the more we might pray about it.  The more we see it, the more intelligent our prayer can become.  It is not a cruel thing.  It is responsible.  A parent will force his child to face his troubles.  So, too, will God do for His children.