"Give me Your Eyes"

As I rode around the capitol city running errands before heading back to “Pan Town” tomorrow (after taking a quick trip home to be with family for Christmas), I observed the typical third world city sights. Lame beggars on a piece of wood on wheels rolling around, barefoot children on super highways selling roses, toy airplanes, and magazines with scandalously dressed women on the covers. The miles of traffic, the haze of fog and smog, the endless varieties of transportation all sharing the same road. At bus stops, walking along the road, and in every vehicle, I saw something else.

The eyes of millions of people.

I listened to this song on my mp3 player as we drove by:

…All those people going somewhere,

Why have I never cared?...
Bridge - I've Been there a million times

A couple of million eyes

Just moving past me by

I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well I want a second glance

So give me a second chance

To see the way you see the people all along

Chorus - Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

Ones that are far beyond my reach.

Give me your heart for the ones forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah
Lyrics to “Give me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath

It was a good song for me to hear right now. It’s the beginning of a new year, the bright future lies ahead, surprises, disappointments, frustrations and joys. Yet, for me, at least the next several months will be spent away from my family. And, you know what? It’s hard. It’s hard being away. It was hard to leave home again. I am so thankful for the time I had to be with my family, but leaving again and again gets old, and definitely doesn’t get easier. When will I just be home for good?

Why was this good song for me to hear? Because seeing people they way our Heavenly Father sees them renews energy to share the Truth. It motivates me to not just look the other way, to not just assume someone else will do it, to not just think my life is my own, to not just accept the world’s way of thinking I deserve it all. It motivates me to press on, to give Him my whole heart, my whole life, to do with it whatever He wants. After all, I have but one life to live, which He has blessed me with. How can I hold anything back?

My mom has often said, “His love compels us…” and I’m realizing more and more how true that is. It is not my own self will, it is not my background, education or drive. It is his love. Of course his strength, grace, and provision all comes into play too. But above all is his love.

“For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view…We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God…” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:11-16, 20 (NIV)

NLT translation says, “Christ’s love controls us, (or urges us on).”
The Message says, “Christ's love has moved me to such extremes…”

Yeah – to extremes of termites, bed-bugs, freezing cold, burning heat, few friends, a hard bed, relationships through unfamiliar languages, weird food, the same weird food over and over, homesickness, no shower, feelings of loneliness, feeling like I don’t fit in anywhere, all for what?

For Him.
And for those who have never heard about Him.
Shouldn’t that be reason enough?

I can say that now, but based on how much I miss home already, I think I’m going to need lots of reminders of His compelling love over the next few months.