Lord, Open My Eyes So I Can See

I'm not sure how many times as a pastor I prayed that simple prayer and received amazing answers.

Looking for a paper form, I prayed it. God said to check the kitchen cabinets. I didn't, at least right away. It just didn't make sense to me that the form would be in a kitchen cabinet. But, the form was in the cabinet.

Looking for shoes, I prayed it. God said, "Sit Down." I sat -- and I immediately saw my shoes in the top of a laundry basket underneath a table.

I haven't had as much luck with that prayer these past four years.

I suspect that God used to answer it so often because He knew I would tell my congregation all about it. And I did -- every time! This past four years, though, no congregation -- no opening-of-the-eyes-so-I-can-see.

Until today.

I was supposed to bring a DVD to church, but I forgot to grab it. I hurried back to the house, but couldn't find the DVD.

I looked on the dresser where I last saw it.
I looked on my desk.
I looked on Mikesha's desk.
I looked on the kitchen counter.
I looked on the kitchen table.
I looked on the dining room table.
I looked on my bathroom counter.
I looked on the coffee table.
I looked on my bed and all of my kids' beds.
I looked in all of the various DVD players in my house.
I looked in the vehicle I was driving.

I called my wife, and she quizzed the kids. Keaton mentioned hiding the movie behind the curtain in the family room. I checked, and there was indeed a movie there, but it was #2 in the series -- I needed #1.

Just as I was about to give up, I got the idea to pray, "Lord, open my eyes so I can see where the movie is". I then thought about how God used to answer that prayer when I pastored, and then... I saw the corner of the DVD case peeking out from under a small stack of papers on Mikesha's desk.

God did it! A four-year run of unanswered open-my-eyes prayers has ended.

I wonder if this means pastoring is in my near future.

Or, maybe God just knew I would write about it.