As I sat in the doctor's exam room, and he had me hold up a little plastic device to block the vision in my left eye. I was asked to read the little letters on the screen across the room wearing my current glasses and using just my right eye. (This was part of a full examination.)
Well, I suddenly realized.... I couldn't read the letters. I admitted it to the doctor and so he asked me to guess at it. I was way off. Wow! My eyes certainly lost a lot of vision in 5 years. It became very clear I was up for a new pair of glasses. Other than that, the optometrist said my eyes were very healthy. Praise God!
So my eyes are healthy, free of disease... but I still can't see clearly out of them!
The very same kind of revelation happened to me when I put on my very first pair of glasses, well over 23 years ago. It was a much bigger shock back then. I was amazed at the world I was missing. Before that, I was seeing things as a blur but thought that was "normal". I didn't, and couldn't, comprehend what normal even was until I was willing to let my eyesight be corrected. My interpretation of the objects and people around me were changed by the fact that I could see them sharply for the very first time in my life. I was 12 or 13 at the time.
So that visit to the optometrist a couple weeks ago helped me. I flunked my eye exam, therefore I needed new lenses. And that got me thinking... things are the same in life, metaphorically speaking.
Spiritually, we think we see clearly on our own, without help from our maker. And then we get examined. Suddenly a tragedy hits. Or a problem arises. Or we make an error. We ask the questions like; What went wrong? Why me? Why can't I see a solution here? Why didn't I see that coming?? Why is the "eye chart" blurry?? Surely it is not MY eyes that need to be corrected? Is it?
Yes. It's time to get our vision examined, and possibly corrected. We as people think we have a clear vision of life but many times, we do not. I am the first to admit it. I have been blindsided so many times by life's problems. And many times I was part of the problem. But my human vision was not clear or honest enough to see it, or to even want to see it. I needed to trust and lean on God and not my own understanding.
I could not see what was wrong until I examined my thought process and compared it to the Doctor's notes. What did the Doctor say about my eyes? He said I need correction. Fine. I don't want correction, but if I must, I will accept it.
I put the Doctor's prescription on, and .... WOW! I can SEE! Suddenly, life's issues make more sense. Not everything is revealed to me in this life, of course, but I sure can see better than I did before. I am still not perfect, but at least I am able to interpret the things around me with more clarity, using His prescription (not my own). God gets all the credit for it. It's not me. I relied on the Expert to help me in my need. I am so glad I humbled myself to get corrective lenses both naturally and spiritually. We all need to see things the way the Doctor does. The Doctor spiritually speaking, is God. He is the Great Physician and He can give us HIS own perspective on life. Just ask in Jesus' Name! If we rely on our own human perspective, we will never have much clarity. But with God, there is much sharper vision. And the best thing is... Jesus PAID for your prescription in His blood! Yes, I DO have to pay for my natural eye care. But... my spiritual vision is paid for in FULL! Awesome.
God's Word, the Holy Bible, acts like a corrective lens. IF we humble ourselves and ask God to help us see, we can use the Bible as a corrective lens through which to see God, people, and life. Without the Word, we have blurry vision, and we are unable to see things from God's perspective at all. But we often have trouble admitting we need help. The Bible makes it clear that vision is very important.
"Where there is no vision, the people decay: but he that keepeth the law is blessed."
Proverbs 29:18 [1599 Geneva Bible]
"And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it."Habakkuk 2:2 (1599 Geneva Bible)
Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are blind to their own sin. They claim to have sight but are blind to their shortcomings:
"Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should not have sin: but now ye say, We see: therefore your sin remaineth."
John 9:41 (1599 Geneva Bible)
So we are in need of God's Spirit and God's Word if we are ever going to be able to understand God!
Are you brave enough to get your eyes examined? Do you want to read the letters on the wall for what they truly are, or will you just guess at it, like I did and hope you are right? There are consequences to guessing at things in life. I'd rather not risk that.
Just because you can't read the eye chart of life, that doesn't mean the eye chart is wrong. It means you need help and clarity from the One who is an expert on vision. If you submit to His prescription, you will be in awe and amazement with your newfound sight. You will have better sight with which to gaze at God and see and appreciate what He has done and Who He is. You will have vision and the ability to see and have love for others, the way God does.
God bless!
Pastor Curtis
Sat. March 28, 2015, 10:11pm EST.
