Levi Lusko recently released Through the Eyes of a Lion, a six-session Bible study considering how God can use impossible pain to become a place of incredible power.
But what’s so special about the eyes of a lion? Lusko shares:
“The eyes of a lion were built to see.
They function essentially like night vision.
First of all, there’s that white stripe that’s under each lion’s eye that functions in the exact opposite way as eye black that an athlete would wear. Eye black minimizes light coming into the eye to keep glare to a minimum while playing in the bright sun.
The white under the eye causes all available light to flood towards the black pupil of the lion’s eye—which is bigger than our pupil and can be opened wider than a pupil of a human. Lions have so many more photoreceptors, called rods, in the back of their eyes. Cones help you see color, and rods help you see shape. Lions don’t have as many cones as they do rods because they don’t need to know color; they don’t pick out their outfits based on what shade they’re going to wear. But, they do need to see shapes and silhouettes.
So, everything about the lion’s eye was built to see.
All cats are like this. In fact, every cat, on the back of their eye, has a shiny surface that bounces light that comes in back out. Whenever you take a photograph of a cat, their eyes shine because this light is shining back out where it came in. It allows the lion, or the cat, to use any light they get twice; they use it on the way in, and they use it on the way out. So, it appears to be brighter than it actually is.
I believe that this is exactly what the Holy Spirit is capable of doing to you.
In fact, Paul prayed for it explicitly in Ephesians 1 when he said: I pray that God would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that your eyes may be enlightened.
He was praying what I hope will become true of you. That you could see light through the eyes of a lion.”
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What if we strove for our groups to experience this type of sight that is granted through the wisdom of Scripture as revealed through the Holy Spirit?
Seeing through this wisdom allows us to make wiser choices and to display the fruit of the Spirit.
As you prepare to lead your group or as you seek to be a faithful and engaged group member, you can take steps towards pursuing such wise sight. Pray Scripture for those in your group as Paul did. Turn to Ephesians 1:15-23 and pray that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. Pray that they will know the hope to which they are called. Ask that you all will understand the immeasurable greatness of Christ’s power towards believers.
As you pray for this wise sight, your group can experience change. The way that you look at situations can be viewed through the glorious reality of the finished work of Christ. The conversations you have can be pointed heaven-toward. And the way you view your own pain and the pain of those around you can be colored with the compassion of Christ and the equipping comfort of the Holy Spirit.
To find out more about seeing with the eyes of a lion and how your pain can be transformed into power, check out Pastor Lusko’s latest Bible study here.
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