Walking With the Eyes of God

What difference can we make?

A devotional by Alexander Henry

 Sunday
How many of you have experienced injustice? How many of you know what it’s like to
live comfortably in uncomfortableness? How many of you see people who need help, who
are crying out to everyone, yet there is no one. Whether or not you have seen people
experiencing these things, or experienced them yourself, this is a big issue in our world
today. However, it is rarely talked about. What do we do? What can we do? What does
God say to do?

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8

Just as there are so many injustices in our world that are unseen and unheard, there are
tons of responses that our Heavenly Father, and their Heavenly Father, has shown and
given. His heart is so vast and so big and it covers even those who are experiencing
oppression, who feel unheard, who feel left behind, who feel forgotten. His love covers you!
This week we are going to dig into this idea of what God wants us to do in response to these
injustices, how do we extend His love and hope to those who feel hopeless.

Today I challenge you to sit down and think and contemplate the injustices in this world,
then pray about them. Pray that God would sensitize you and open your heart and mind to
the pain that is in the world. Go to Him and see how you can love better and show the hope
that He has to offer.

1
2
 Monday
As we begin this journey into truly walking with the eyes of God, we are going to talk about
one of the most common circumstances that our society sees today. In a world that is so
obsessed with money and possessions, it’s no wonder why we see so many situations with
people being in poverty and barely getting by. Oftentimes the greatest desires of our world
also tend to be one of the greatest pitfalls. While there is inherently nothing wrong with our
desires and wants to be comfortable, it is wrong to completely ignore and dampen the voices
of those who don’t ever attain those desires, it’s wrong to forget about those in poverty.

Did you know that there are 689 million people live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than
$1.90 a day? Or that children and youth account for two-thirds of that number? Did you
know that each day, 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, die from hunger
and related causes? And that some 854 million people worldwide are estimated to be
undernourished, and that high food prices may drive another 100 million into poverty and
hunger? There is pain and suffering all around this world and it is so hard for lots of us who
seem to be outside of the issue to truly care and empathize with these people. As you
continue to seek that empathy and growth, keep this verse in mind,

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor,

in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you,
you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.”
Deuteronomy 15:7

How do the statistics brought up make you feel? What does this verse do in regards to your
convictions of helping the poor? I encourage you to open your hearts and souls to see and
love as God loves. Take some time today and reflect on these things, then maybe go out and
help someone in need.

3
4
 Tuesday
I pray that as you continue throughout this journey of seeing people through the eyes of God,
that He has truly grabbed a hold of your heart and started a fire in your soul for helping
and seeking the understanding of those who are unjustly treated. Today we are going to
bring light to those who are imprisoned. Let me ask you something. When was the last time
that you went and visited the jails? Or helped out someone who has gotten out of it? The
reality is, probably not many of us have, yet they too are a hurting community that is trying
to make themselves known as much as any of the others.

When We look at the Bible, we see many instances where those who are incarcerated are
mentioned, yet that is never brought up in the church. Jesus tells us to not only love our
neighbor, but also our enemy. But who says these people are our enemies to begin with? I
just know that God says love anyone and everyone, no matter what the circumstance is.

“Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."”
Mark 2:17

There are so many times that we as Christians surround ourselves with so many other
Christians in order to have a “good circle of friends,” that we miss out on a huge part of our
calling. There are people out there that have no one, there are people in prison that have no
one that believes in them. What would our world look like if everyone had someone that told
them they can do it. Are you perfect? Have you ever felt like you were alone, only to have
someone come back and help you onto your feet? That’s what these people are feeling. Let’s
go out and be God’s hands and feet to those who are in prison and are the “enemies” in our
world. Talk to them, write to them, and pray for them. That is the challenge today. Let God
challenge your opinions and your walls so that you may see even the prisoner through His
eyes.

5
6
 Wednesday
Looking through the eyes of God is life-changing. Not only for us as Christians, but for those
who we see through those kind and loving eyes. Just ask Saul. Saul was a persecutor of the
early church that was heavily involved in making the believers feel unseen, unheard, and
unimportant. He stood and watched the stoning of Stephen, holding the coats of the killers
so that they might be comfortable while they are taking someone’s life. Saul was a monster.
Yet through the grace of God, and a man named Ananias, who chose to see Saul through
God’s eyes, Saul, who later became Paul, found hope again. Becoming one of the “greatest”
Christians of all time. But it was not easy. Not only did it take Ananias, but it took
Barnabus too, for once Saul changed his life, the oppressor became the oppressed.

Have you ever been oppressed? Or know someone who has? What a lonely and hopeless place
to be. At least in a world without a loving Heavenly Father anyway. Luckily He is here and is
moving in all of us. His love and grace are so warm that even the coldest hearts take notice.
God calls us to be apart of that warmth! There is a lot of “cold” out there, but how warm
would Earth be if we all loved as he did? If we loved the oppressed AND the oppressor?

But the LORD reigns forever, executing judgment from his throne.
He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness.
The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.
Psalm 9:7-10

What if we are the avenue in which God is providing refuge? What if we are the way
through which God is showing people hope? There are people out there searching for more.
The very “more” that we have. God is the more! Whether we come across the oppressed or
the oppressor, they need more. So go out and be an Ananias and a Barnabus, for you never
know who the next Paul could be. Learn to look at EVERYONE through the eyes of God.

7
8
 Thursday
Don’t you just love being able to spend time with your family? Or do you love having the
opportunity to get a break from your family? Family, whether or not we always realize it or
think about it, is one of the most overlooked and amazing blessings in the world. They are
the ones we are supposed to always be able to count on, they are the ones where we are
supposed to always be able to go to. When we feel like no one loves us they do. They pick us up
when we are down, they keep us safe when we are in danger, they show us the light in the
darkness.

Some people only see the darkness. And they feel stuck and alone...because they have nobody.
In our world today there are over 150,000,000 confirmed orphans. That’s 150 million kids
that don’t have that assumed backbone and support system to lean on. Not only that but,
in the United States alone, about 442,000 children are in foster care and then there are
over 8 million children around the world that are in institutions. Where is the light for those
kids? Who will bring them up when they are down? Who will believe in them when no one else
does?

“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 1:17

Sisters and brothers this is not a choice! It is a command from the all-powerful, all-loving
God! He commands us to love the fatherless and the widows, for who else will. We know that
even though they don’t have a family they still have a Father, but they don’t. We have to
show them that not only are they loved here on Earth, but they are loved by their Father in
Heaven. Jesus says in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” And
so will we. Let’s welcome ALL people into this amazing family of God.

9
10
 Friday
Does anyone ever wonder why we all love watching tv shows and movies or reading books
about these amazing societies with cool backstories and perfectly planned drama that has
amazing conflict resolution? I think it is because of how unrealistic it is. We all have been
stuck in deep ruts or in a heavy conflict that we just can’t get out of no matter how hard
we try. We all feel like we are being crushed by the weight and burdens that this world sets
upon us. Whether that be school, work, relationships, anxiety, depression, oppression,
addiction, or anything else… we want out. We want some of that perfect conflict resolution,
or that nice billionaire to just come and bless us. But we don’t get that… we have something
better.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart;
and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus tells us to come!!! ALL who are weary! I don’t know about you guys, but trying to see
through the eyes of God is tiring, and I keep messing up. Fighting the injustices of this world
and loving the oppressed is a heavy burden! But it is a burden that we do not have to carry.
After all that we have talked about this week, it is easy to bash ourselves and see the
injustices in this world as untackleable or impossible to overcome. Yet we forget that we
aren’t the ones who are overcoming, He is.

Today I want you all to join me in giving this burden over to the Lord. This doesn’t mean to
forget everything and stop loving those people and to stop being an advocate for Christ and
an advocate for the oppressed! It means to give all the control to the Heavenly Father that
knows all and can do all. It is only through Him and with Him that anything gets
accomplished. Let’s give Him ALL the glory today. Let’s come together and rest in HIM.
Knowing that He is moving and will move, even if we can not see it.

11
12
 Saturday
This week we have been exploring what it looks like to try and see this world and all of its
injustices through the eyes of God. What a week of growth it has been. So what? What do
we do when we see the fatherless? What do we do when we see a Widow? What happens
when we see racial injustice and oppression? Well, we can turn to our Father, ALL of our
Father, and remember how he sees them. The Bible is not shy on these topics, and there are
so many more than what has been put in this devotional, and there are plenty of advocacy
and non-profit organizations put in place to fight these things, yet what has changed?

To this answer this question I turn back to Micah 6:8, which says, “He has shown you, O
mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” We are to love. When we see the oppressed, we love them.
When we see the widow, we love them. When we see the poor we love them. And we don’t love
them with some cheap and rundown human love, we love them with the Love of God. The
Author and Creator of Love. We can help and serve, and advocate, and protest, and do all
these amazing things for these hurting people, and yet still not love.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love,

I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Let’s be more than just clanging cymbals. Let’s be more than just, “nice people.” We need to
truly open our eyes and see people as God does, and fight the injustices in this world. Not
with words, money, or power, but with LOVE.

13
 Resources
● https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts#facts

14
● https://www.mic.com/articles/57465/the-world-s-biggest-human-rights-crisis-150-
million-children-without-parents
● https://www.kidsave.org/the-need/

15