The Fish with the Power Eye & The Funeral

Lunch time often finds me at the local Chinese restaurant a few doors down from the Grand Horizon Center. In the waiting area, there is a large fish tank filled with several beautiful gold and white spotted Koi as well as some algae eaters and a big silent lonesome fish with blue spots. One of the Koi is different from the others. I call him Power Eye. You see, Power Eye only has one eye on one oside of his head. There is just a flat spot where the other eye should be. So to compensate for his lack, his single eye is oversized. As he swims, his power eye swivels around, constantly scanning the area.

For as long as I have been listening to Bob Deering speak – at the Meeting Place, church, IHOP, or just in staff meetings – he has always used the phrase “a single-eyed focus of affection” in reference to God, our Father. It’s kind of a funny sounding phrase, and I have often visualized what a person with a single eye fixed on something would look like. Cyclops, perhaps? At any rate, he said it again the other day and I thought of good old Power Eye, swimming around there at the Jade Garden. He has one big eye. That’s it. You might say he is visually challenged, or has a handicap. He has a single eye, and it is oversized. I thought of how that could apply to each of us. When we have a single-eyed focus, that means we are looking for one thing (Psalm 27:4). There is nothing in our peripheral vision that can distract us, so focused are we on that one thing. Our single eye, forced to being constantly focused and working overtime, because there is no other option for us, becomes larger and stronger. The deeper our focus, the clearer the picture becomes and the stronger the attraction to that on which we are focused grows. Not only that, but as we maintain that “single-eyed focus of affection” (attraction), at the same time we are still able to move throughout our day, scanning and being ever watchful.

Maybe I am stretching an analogy a little here, but the point is there. Power Eye has a limitation, some would say. But you never know, he might see better than most. When we maintain a single-eyed focus of affection upon Jesus, there is no doubt that what some would say is limiting would be the very thing that brings us the most freedom.

I was asked recently why I do what I do, and in a nutshell, this is it. I have been called by God to Voice Ministries and if I am going to follow that call, all my focus, all my energy and all my … all … needs to be to that one thing. The single-eyed focus [even when it gets hard and there is so much out there that’s trying to lure and distract me from my destiny] is what will keep me in an intimate relationship with Jesus and will keep my feet on the road persevering with joy and hope. Will I fall? Yes. But as Bob often says, “a man is only a failure when he quits trying.” I have not quit yet. My affection for my God draws me back every time, and His forgiveness and love continually overwhelms me.

This was a different week at Voice. We had a viewing and funeral for a young man of 19 years who died unexpectedly in a car accident last Saturday. Rob Melton was our bass player at the church. He was a crazy mop-headed rocker with a love for life and people. A couple thousand people showed up for the viewing on Friday – some standing in line for three hours. My last memory of him was the weekend before, Robert and I were at the Seventh Day Slumber show at the Venetian Festival at Silver Beach. We were right up front and it was incredibly loud. Suddenly, i turned slightly as my eye caught this black t-shirted guy running through the crowd and then jumped on Robert’s back, laughing and smiling. He loved God and I heard story after story of how even though his team at school and other would give him a hard time about his faith, he never wavered. He challenged them and obviously made a huge impact. His entire track and cross country teams showed up in uniform. Lined up on the stage were all his running shoes, tons of ribbons from races he had won, and one of the passions of his life – a Ducati Paso, a recent gift from his Dad who also has a matching one. Hundreds of people were impacted by Rob’s life. He was only 19. We will miss our bass player and all his antics, and I know his parents, Rob & Wendy and sisters will be missing him more in the days to come, when the shock has worn off and reality sets in. They were one of the closest families I have ever seen and seeing their strength during this time of loss was amazing. During the viewing, I heard them point person after person to God because their hope – their single-eyed focus of affection – is on Him. They know that their son, Rob, is experiencing first hand what we all long for – to worship at the feet of the omnipotent Creator and loving Father God. My heart and prayers go out to them tonight.