Healing Wounds Through the Eyes of Your Heart

Are you part of the walking wounded?

We may not realize it, but all of us carry trauma. In life, we all receive emotional wounds but normally we recover enough to be able to function. Wounds come in so many ways: broken marriages, abuse, bad parents, and terrible personal decisions. As someone who had to heal from a broken marriage, I know it was a long and difficult process, longer than it should have been.

If we are Christians though, we have a hope that should heal our wounds if we let it. When Paul prays for the church at Ephesus we get a deeper understanding of how that happens (Ephesians 1:15-21). Paul does not respond to the struggles of believers with techniques or advice, but with prayer, because he knows real healing begins with how we see our circumstances spiritually. We heal wounds through the eyes of our heart.

I would like to focus on one particular verse, verse 18. This verse goes to the heart of how believers move from merely surviving to truly healing.

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people," (NIV)

Healing Wounds Through the Eyes of Your Heart

What does Paul mean when he prays "that the eyes of your heart be enlightened"? Paul is talking about a deeper wisdom and understanding than we have in the world. This spiritual knowledge comes from faith. Paul wants the Ephesian Christians to discern God's truth. He desires them to fully grasp that God loves them. As much as possible, Paul prays for them to see the world through the lens of God's love. And why is this so important?

A friend I once had was very good at quoting Scripture, but tragedy struck and they had difficulty believing God still loved them. Through much struggle and prayer, they finally allowed the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of their heart. This renewed their hope in a God they had known, but had never truly seen with spiritual understanding. My friend's experience is not unique, many of us carry similar doubts. Without spiritual sight, hope remains vague, but once the heart sees clearly, hope becomes something we can really experience.

“Without spiritual sight, hope remains vague, but once the heart sees clearly, hope becomes something we can really experience.”

Where do you feel stuck or hopeless? Spend a few minutes thinking, praying, or writing about how God’s love might transform that situation.

Hope That Transforms: Living in the Spirit

When the eyes of our heart are opened, he prays that we can "know the hope to which He has called you." This hope is a confident expectation that one day we will live forever with our Father. There is hope that we will live out God's will for our lives. This isn't something we do alone. The Holy Spirit lives within us and enables us to do this. Without Him, it would be impossible. Scripture tells us we have been called to do good so we can show God to the world. This hope is for every Christian, one we should live out every day.

And God "has called you" to this hope. You, individually, not just the church as a whole. God's hope is for each and every one of us who has called on His name. He knew your need for hope. Steadfast faith allows us to endure trials with hope. Without that hope, lasting joy is impossible.

Pause and pray this aloud, filling in the blanks: 'Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see the hope in [specific wound or struggle]. Help me experience Your love in [area of my life]. Amen.

Beyond Hope: Understanding God’s Riches

Paul then tells us there is more, not just hope, but the riches that truly matter—spiritual riches. They are the blessings God pours out on His people. They flow from His love and purpose, pointing to the fullness of life God intends for us in Him.

Our Glorious Inheritance: Sharing in God’s Power

These are "His glorious inheritance in his holy people." The way Paul words this has caused scholars to suggest he means one of two things. Either Paul is saying that believers inherit something glorious from God or that God's inheritance of us, His people, is glorious to Him. This distinction matters, because both meanings speak directly to how we understand our worth and experience God's healing. Let's look at the first meaning.

No doubt we as believers inherit glories from God. What are they? First they are unmerited salvation and forgiveness. We are made new by God and all of creation eventually will experience a renewal because of Him (Romans 8:19-23).

Because of this, we now have relationship with the Creator of the Universe. We have the ability to call Him, Father. Not only that, but His Holy Spirit now lives within us.

Our riches and treasures await us in Heaven as well. There we will live in a place without suffering, hunger, or sickness. The light of Heaven will be God Himself, and we will share in His holiness. But Paul’s words may also point in another direction, one that is just as humbling: God's people are glorious to Him.

How can we be glorious to God? We, the people of God, give Him our praise and through us He is glorified. Just as Israel was God's specially chosen people, so we in the church now are as well. We are His heritage. He delights in us as His own possession.

"The Lord took you and brought you . . . out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are." Deuteronomy 4:20

Both explanations can be correct because Paul frequently layered his meanings. It certainly gives me hope when I think about all the ways I have been blessed by God. It is easy to take those things for granted, easy to say them with your lips, yet not fully comprehend them with the eyes of your heart. These are the kind of riches we should desire. These are the riches that heal us.

And yet, doesn't it also give you hope that God has loved us and cherished us so much, like the loving Father He is? As a parent, we are normally proud of our children. Don't we point to them and say, "They are mine!"? Is it surprising to you to realize that God loves us this much as well?

So often we feel unworthy of His love and certainly we are not, but Christ has made us worthy. His sacrifice has opened the door for us to have a relationship with God that would have been impossible. Our Father's love and forgiveness are always there if we repent and believe.

So we inherit the riches of His grace, but God also inherits something. This is something He actually gives Himself, for we can give Him nothing He needs. We are an inheritance given by God for God (Ephesians 1:11). We are His treasure as He is ours. In God's plan, riches flow in both directions but all in His will. This inheritance is not only something we will one day receive; it shapes how we live and endure now.

Isn't it a humbling thought to realize that we share in Christ's inheritance? As Romans 8:17 tells us, we are joint heirs with Jesus. We share in His suffering and in His inheritance (Revelation 21:7).

But Paul also wanted the Ephesians to remember that we share in God's power to overcome. Yes, we will have pain and suffering in this life, but because the Holy Spirit lives within us we have the power to give that to God's glory. As I learned from my own woundedness, God alone can truly overcome traumas because often they distort how we see things. How has God's love healed a wound in your life?

Living in the Light of His Love

We can be overcomers of any wounds we have endured but not in our own strength, only in God's power. Overcoming fear and finding faith is God's purpose for us. While we wait for our full inheritance to come in Heaven, we should pray for ourselves and those we love like Paul did. Let's not just talk about God's love but feel it with every breath we take.

Pray for the spiritual eyes to see the hope we have, the riches, and the power given to us. Just as my friend eventually saw God clearly, we too can allow the Spirit to heal our own wounds through the eyes of our heart. This is the same strength we need to heal from past hurts and prevent new ones.