Encouragement Is a Four-Eyed Fish

Encouragement Is a Four-Eyed Fish Daily Devotional by Norman Wright

Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Have you ever heard of the four-eyed fish? It’s an odd-looking creature to say the least. Native to the equatorial waters of the Western Atlantic region, this fish’s technical name is Anableps. (Just don’t name one of your children Anableps!) It means “those that look upward” because of the unusual eye structure. This unique creature has two-tiered eyes.

The upper and lower halves of each eyeball operate independently and have separate corneas and irises. So, if you were to confront one in its natural habitat, you would see him with his upper eyes protruding above the surface of the water. This helps him search for food as well as identify enemies in the air.

Now remember, this fish also has lower eyes. These stay focused in the water in the typical manner of most fish. On one hand, the fish navigates in the water like other fish. But they have the advantage of seeing what other fish can’t see because of the upper eyes. They see in both worlds.

If you were like this—having four eyes, two for seeing what actually is and two for seeing what might be—you’d be quite an interesting person.

What would it be like in terms of our marriage relationships? We’d be able to anticipate that our spouses would do their very best. And we would be able to help them along the way by encouraging them.

Encouragers are like prospectors or deep-sea divers looking for hidden treasure.

Every person has pockets of under-developed resources within him or her. Your task is to search for these pockets in your spouse, discover them, and then expand them. At first what you discover may be rough and imperfect.

Talent scouts and scouts for professional sports teams see undeveloped raw talent and ability, but they have the wisdom to see beyond that.

They look into the future and see what can happen if all the potential were cultivated and developed. Is this what you do with your spouse?