“‘For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”  – Matthew 13:15-16

In worship Sunday morning something the preacher said reminded me of a story from our first church, Trinity Presbyterian in Pensacola. Rebekah and I had started a new ministry for young families that seemed to hit the sweet spot for folk in their 20s and 30s, and we all grew together in every imaginable way.

Fairly early on, at the beginning of each Sunday morning class, I started offering a brief devotional thought, typically focusing on something I had observed or learned during the week.

People seemed to enjoy what I shared and there were a lot of comments such as, “I wish God was that active in my life…” or “It seems like God speaks to you all the time…” and “If I could just see one miracle, maybe I would have more faith….”

So we talked about this and I remember saying something like, “The Gift of Wonder has only one requirement, that we keep our eyes and our ears open.” I tend to experience more God moments, I believe, mostly because I am paying attention.

Looking Through the right Lens:

As if to prove that point a new young Navy couple joined us – he was a flight instructor, she was a nurse – and after a couple of weeks she showed me a journal she kept. The title on the cover read “Miracles I Have Received,” and the pages were almost 100% full.

Here’s my question. Do you think she labeled the book only after she had received – then written down – all those miracles…. Or, was the book full with miracles because, first, she put that title on the cover…?

I think you already know.

She told me she already had Volume Two ready to go, and that it is the anticipation and the expectation that opens her eyes.

What miracles are we going to receive during 2026? Or do we simply go directly for the bad news and - likewise - confirm what we were already thinking?

“Open our eyes, Lord” – DEREK

Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free

Silently now, I wait for Thee
Ready, my God, thy will to see
Open my eyes, illumine me
Spirit divine. (Clara H. Scott, 1895)