Proverbs 20.12
“The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.”
Last week I made the point that the Lord calls us to be master observers. He also calls us to be elite listeners. Much of the wisdom of proverbs is based on clarity of observation, both visual (what you see) and verbal (what you hear).
We are plagued by visual and verbal blind spots. We don’t always see what needs to be seen, nor do we always hear what needs to be heard. We see and listen with limited perception. We tend to see what we want to see, and hear what we want to hear.
It’s challenging because what gets your attention can distract you from what really matters. The wise person recognizes when their focus has drifted toward the wrong thing, and they have the discipline to redirect fheir attention back to what really matters. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke powerfully about the importance of this discipline.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6.22-23)
“The eye is the lamp of the body” refers to the way we see things. “Light” is clarity of vision that produces wise decisions, and “darkness” is distortion of vision that produces bad decisions. Jesus is teaching us that the way we look at people and situations is enormously important. If our eye is healthy (clear vision), then our life is full of light and we can deal with people and situations according to what is actually happening. But if our eye is bad (impaired vision), then our life is full of darkness and we will react to people and situations based on a distorted perspective.
Consider some of the bad decisions you have made in your life. Didn’t those bad decisions start with a distorted perspective? Wasn’t the initial source of your bad decision that you focused on the wrong thing?
Focus is the first step in disciplined thinking and wisdom, and we must get it right. Just because something gets your attention doesn’t mean it deserves your attention. Find and focus on what matters. This is wisdom in action.
Consider the consequences of distorted vision.
If your “eye” is negative because of pessimism and cynicism, you find and focus on negative things.
If your eye is jealous and envious, you will covet what other people have and be resentful.
If your eye is naively optimistic, you will fail to see and avoid potential trouble.
If your eye is narrow and biased, you will not act with respect and fairness.
If your eye is self-centered and arrogant, you will be hardhearted toward the needs of others.
Trust God, pursue his wisdom, see what needs to be seen.
