Blind to the Obvious

“And as they sat down to eat, he asked God’s blessing on the food... when suddenly – it was as though their eyes were opened – they recognized him!” (Luke 24:30,31 The Living Bible. Read the whole story - Luke 24:13-35)

My nine-year-old daughter’s thick brown hair was combed into silky pigtails that Sunday morning. She’d finally recovered from chicken pox and I’d given her hair a good scrub before church, hoping that that would take away the extreme itchiness she’d had for the last few weeks.

As she sat beside me in the pew, I gave her a motherly once-over and noticed flecks of dandruff in her bangs. I tried to brush one away but it was stuck tight to a shaft of hair. I worked at removing another, with the same result. As I glanced over the rest of her hair, I saw more and more dandruff. What on earth?!

In that instant my eyes were opened. This was no flaky scalp condition. The chicken pox I’d blamed for her itchy head was only a partial culprit. I was looking at a case of full-blown head lice. Somehow, preoccupied with the concerns of everyday living and getting her through a bout of illness, I’d never noticed as the hungry critters took up residence.

I spent the rest of that day shampooing heads, scrubbing furniture, washing clothes and bedding, and vacuuming everything in sight. All the while I berated myself for not seeing. How could I have missed something so obvious?

I wonder if that isn’t how the disciples on the road to Emmaus felt after they realized it had been Jesus who had joined them on their walk. Focused on their circumstances, wearing the dark glasses of pat explanation and expectation, they’d spent hours walking and talking with the risen Christ but never realized who He was.

Like them, I too am often blind to spiritual reality. I listen to local, national and international news with a sense of panic, and miss seeing how world events are fulfilling Bible predictions. I get trapped under clouds of discouragement, distraction and defeat, and only after they’ve lifted do I recognize the fingerprints of Satan all over my situation. I talk to my neighbor but it isn’t till hours later that I realize I didn’t walk through an open door to talk about Jesus.

There is a realm of reality that we can see only through eyes opened by God. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to His presence and activity in all of life.

(This devotional has been published in a collection of devotions put out by Bethany College and in September 2006's Comfort Cafe -- where the home page links to a story by Inscribe's own Janet Seever.)