Years ago, Jackson Browne wrote a song called Doctor, My Eyes to ask some very penetrating questions:

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years and the slow parade of fears without crying…now I want to understand.  I have done all that I could to see the evil and the good without hiding…you must help me if you can.

Doctor, my eyes…tell me what is wrong!  Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?

As I have wandered through this world and as each moment has unfurled, I’ve been waiting to awaken from these dreams. People go just where they will…I never noticed them until I got this feeling that it’s later than it seems.

Doctor, my eyes…tell me what you see!  I hear their cries…just say if it’s too late for me. Doctor, my eyes!  They cannot see the sky! Is this the prize for having learned how not to cry?

I’m thinking those words still ring true today…perhaps even more so. Consider the amount of death, disasters, and mass destruction we’ve seen in the movies, on TV, through social media and in the news.  In many ways, we have been slowly desensitized.  Every day, we see war, terrorism, epidemics, murders, famines, slavery, trafficking, persecution, poverty, earthquakes, flooding, and hear of countless personal tragedies.  It’s overwhelming; there’s just too much pain and suffering.  Our only escape seems to be a click on the mouse or the remote.

Have I learned how not to cry? Doctor, my eyes! Have I left them open too long? Is it too late for me?

If you have experienced any of these symptoms, you should definitely make an appointment with the Great Physician.  He is full of compassion.  Near to the brokenhearted.  A man of sorrows acquainted with grief.  A God who weeps.  Father to the fatherless.  Defender of widows.  Saving those crushed in spirit.  Embracing the poor, the oppressed, the broken, the outcast, the stranger, the prisoner.  Caring for the sick, the naked, the afflicted, the persecuted.

And no, it’s not too late.  The Great Physician can restore in you a heart of compassion. Then you can ask Him to break your heart over something that breaks His…to see the need and be moved with compassion to act.

I know we can’t be everywhere or do everything, but that’s the beauty of the body of Christ and the power of prayer.  His prescription for you and me is to pray, serve, go, and give that others may go – exactly where God has called us.  Truly, the sun should never set on our ministry.

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12 NASB).

© 2014 Tim McKenzie
On Every Word Ministries
www.OnEveryWord.com