Blackeye

There are moments in life when we will receive a black eye and not necessarily a physical one. Maybe it does happen at the playground against a bigger bully or standing up for something that you believe in. As a nation, we received a black eye with 9/11 and other events that left its mark on us. Black eyes are expected when we are dealing with people who oppose us but sadly, many of the black eyes that we suffer are from those we hold closest.

There are different events that I could use as examples from my own life but as a man, being lied to is one of the worse black eyes you could receive. This is especially hurtful when the lie comes from someone you trusted greatly particularly a woman. Your entire life is shaped differently. Your outlook on life is different, as well, because you look at people differently and this is one of those black eyes that take a while to heal. Worse even, your relationship with God may even be hurt.

That may sound silly, I know, but a human being is not made of stone and regardless of their physical stature or standing among people, they hurt. Our Lord hurt while He was on the cross and there are things that we, as His children, do that make Him hurt, still: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). We are made in the image of God and He hurt in the form of Christ and hurts still because He loves and cares for us.

We just celebrated Easter and all the things that our Savior did and had to overcome. He was beaten and bruised and wounded for our transgressions: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The black eye that was left on Christ is one that will always remain and when we are in Heaven with Him, His scars will be there: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6).

However, the black eyes that we receive while on Earth will not always be there. Although they hurt right now, they will not always hurt us but while we are on Earth, they are there to make us wiser and smarter. This is why our mistakes are meant to be learned from and this includes our black eyes. Unfortunately, too many people—including myself—have spent too much time repeating the same mistake and for some, again and again. The good news is it won’t always be like this as our black eyes and wounds will, someday, no longer be there: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

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