Jud Wilhite - Eyes Wide Open: See and Live the Real You

I 've always been freakish about my eyes. If anything or anyone gets close to them, I flinch, duck, or awkwardly step away. I can't wear contacts. I can't even put eye drops directly into my eyes. Instead, I have to put the drops on my eyelids and blink them in. Pretty pathetic, I know. If my friends want to gross me out, all they have to do is reach up and touch their eyes, and I'm done. Let's just say LASIK surgery isn't in my future.

One of the most traumatizing movies I've ever seen is Minority Report, in which people in the future are subjected to iris scans wherever they go. Tom Cruise's character even secretly gets his eyes replaced by a surgeon in order to avoid detection. I'll never forget sitting in the theater watching that scene, one eye closed and the other barely open, begging director Steven Spielberg to stop.

We will explore what it means to live with eyes wide open, to embrace God's view instead of our own.

Metaphorically, this book is about getting a new set of eyes to see differently. Don't worry; there are no iris scans or black-market eye surgeons involved. But we will explore what it means to live with eyes wide open, to embrace God's view instead of our own.

Too many of us live with a distorted perspective of God. We see God as an all-powerful police officer aiming His speed gun at us. We believe that God loves; we just aren't convinced at the core of our being that He loves us. We think He's good, but we're acutely aware that we aren't. No matter how many messages we hear about grace, we wonder if we are forgiven. And we either jump on the performance treadmill to try and earn God's love, or we wallow in guilt and condemnation. Perhaps we run from the God thing altogether.

This distorted perspective also affects how we see ourselves. We look in the mirror, and instead of seeing one loved and forgiven by God, created in His image, empowered to influence the world for Him, we see something else. We see images from the past. Maybe it's the parent who was always critical of us, the schoolyard bully who picked on us, or the boss who laid us off still popping up in our memories. We play the destructive video clip over and over in our minds and come to the same conclusion: I'm a failurefat insignificantuglyworthlessdumbhopelessunworthy unloveda nobody.

If this sounds familiar to you, then I need to warn you about something: Distorted images are not only shaping your perspective but are also hindering your possibilities. If you see yourself as insignificant long enough, you'll start to act accordingly. If you see yourself as ugly or worthless, it will affect how you relate to your family and friends, your God, and your world. Rather than grow and change as you could, you'll be tempted to give in or give up or stay in a holding pattern of self-destructive behavior. Rather than make your own unique contribution in the world, you may pull back and settle for mediocrity. But this is not the real you.

Embracing God's perspective of youliving with eyes wide openis so important because it allows you to become the person God created you to be. Not the you your critics claim you are. Not the you who pretends to be perfect in order to satisfy others' expectations. Not the you who feels guilty before God about your past and who lives with chronic spiritual remorse. Not the you who looks in the mirror and sees a failure.

The real you emerges as you see differently, biblically. You see yourself in light of who God says you are in His written Word. This is the first part of the adventure, but it doesn't end there. Then you begin to live out of this recognition. You are empowered to make the changes in your life that God desires you to make and to influence your world more fully for Him.

This is what Eyes Wide Open is all about. So welcomethis message is for you.

I've been on a journey of God-discovery and self-discovery for the past twenty years as a follower of Jesus. Eyes Wide Open began as I sat down with my journal and reflected on the most transforming principles that helped me move from being broken and hurting, with a distorted view of God and myself, to healing and growing as the real me.

The real you emerges as you see yourself in light of who God says you are in His written Word.

As I've taught these principles to thousands of people, I've been humbled by the response. Some of the most together people I know have admitted to going through incredible struggles to accept God's grace, to see themselves with their new identity in Christ, and to make an impact in the world as a result of that. One of the greatest joys of my life has been to see them look at God and themselves with new eyes, freed to discover the person God designed them to be.

I'm excited to think about how this same message, conveyed through this book, can have the same transforming effect on