Give Me Your Eyes

Today at church a girl approached me to sit with her during service. It was clear to me that she had some sort of mental disability and at first I was a bit taken back and unsure of what to do. On one hand, I was afraid of her because I had worked with people similarly to her before and I knew that they were capable of being very physical and aggressive, without meaning to. I was afraid that she might lash out at me or something. But on the other hand, I knew that she was at church and that there was something God wanted to show me. I knew that it wasn't a coincidence that she approached me. I knew how it felt to be lonely and it seemed like she was alone, perhaps it has been like that for too long. So my friend and I sat with her.

During praise time she leaned onto me as I stood and she sat. I felt compelled to put my arm around her and when I did, all I could feel was a wave of sadness flowing from her into me. I didn't understand where it was coming from. I just felt really sad and tears started to stream down my face. I think she was really sad and the physical act of me touching her did something to transfer some of that to me. One other thing that struck me and made me feel sad was when we were singing the lines "my chains are gone, I've been set free" in the song Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone. She was singing along with the congregation up until this point. I was sitting with her at this time, as she requested. As we got to that line and finished it, she started shaking her head sideways and said "no", as if she was saying, "no, this is not the truth for me". I don't really know where to go from here. I really hope that one day she will be able to smile and sing that line as if it were part of her testimony. I'm glad God gave me this experience today, for showing me that I need to be more compassionate and for revealing to me how much hurt there still is in this world.

Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath , lyrics below




Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

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

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

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

Give me your eyes!
Lord give me your eyes!
Everything, I keep missing
Give me your arms!
For the broken-hearted!
Give me your arms
Lord, give me your eyes

Job 38&39 today