New Eyes

When Jesus told the disciples to pray, "Our Father in heaven,"  He surely was not simply trying to be superfluous in His language.  Yes, He could have just said to pray, "Our Father," but there is something very distinctive about this shared Father to whom we are all instructed to pray.  This Father is "in heaven," which speaks to us of a viewpoint we cannot see.  No matter how well we are able to understand our situation, it can never be as complete as the Father who listens and sees from heaven.

 

The Father in heaven to whom we pray has a view of the situation which is different than ours.  Our view is cluttered with fears of what might be.  It is cluttered with possibilities all of which seem like imminent realities, and finally, it is cluttered with predictions of doom that have as their basis past struggles and failures.  And when to this is added all the helpful thoughts of others who have figured out what needs to be done, the view we have becomes even more distorted and confused.  There is always something to be said for having "new eyes" look at what we are seeing all the time.  God has "new eyes." 

As Jesus points us to "Our Father in heaven," He is pointing us to someone who clearly sees the bigger picture of our life.  He is pointing us to someone who sees not just the next step on the road of our journey, but the longer view of the journey as well.  What our Father in heaven is always seeking to do is to work for us in the best possible way.  The best possible way is not always the best short term fix, but it still remains the best possible way.  Our Father in heaven has a view different from us and He is also One who can be trusted to lead us toward it.  Even when we cannot see that such is where we are going, He is able to see and He can be trusted to get us there.